


Wilted Roses

by Superbeans



Category: Aladdin (1992), Frozen (2013), Supernatural, Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gritty, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Girls with Guns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2018-06-08 19:34:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 37,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6870640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superbeans/pseuds/Superbeans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elsa and Anna Arendelle are two estranged sisters, separated since the deaths of their parents. </p><p>However, reunited after the shock loss of Elsa's girlfriend, they use what their parents taught, and stand as the sole force against a seemingly uncatchable serial killer with a thirst for young women.</p><p>Supernatural AU. Gore, assault and death warnings. Rating is under subject to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey Els. Guess what?"

"Yeah, Jazzy?"

Two hands slowly crept across her lover's back. Intertwining with the older woman's platinum blonde braids, weaving through the threads as if they were silk.

"I managed to persuade my dad..." 'Jazzy' bit her bottom lip, as she stared up at the woman above her. There was barely an article of clothing between the two, and it was steadily decreasing as 'Els' helped her girlfriend slip out of her blue tube top.

"Oh?" Els purred. "Does that mean we can stop with the secret meetings, expensive motel rooms, and shameless deception?"

"Y-yes! Yes it does...!" Jazzy gasped, her back arching from Els' expertise. "And if-if you _behave_ , I'll let him meet you soon. How's that sound?"

"Sounds great to me," Els nibbled her lover's ear, enjoying the feeling of feet as they flailed beneath her.

"Th-there's just _ONE_... proviso!" Jazzy gasped, the lips on her neck proving far too powerful. "I-if anyone asks... you're eighteen. Okay?"

"Oh?" Elsa traced a finger along her teenager's belly. "But I thought you were legal where you are?"

"I-I am...?" Jazzy squirmed. "But my d-dad would _nnnot_ be pleased, if he found out you were twenty-one. So please?

Els withdrew her finger, and dismounted the teen. "I thought we were stopping with the deception?"

"We are," Jazzy shivered, already lamenting her lover's warmth. "But what's the harm in one more white lie? After all, you could pass for eighteen?"

"Well..." Els stumbled out of the tangled bed sheets, bending over in front of her raven haired beauty.

A hand snatched at her naked ass, just barely missing as Els stepped forwards.

"I'll think about it," the blonde winked, and flounced away into the bathroom. Her lover groaned as the door was shut, and a naked Els ran the taps to splash some water on her face.

"So," she smirked, her face lost in a towel. "Does that mean you're finally ready to go all the way?"

Her teenager didn't respond.

"Y'know, now that you've finally convinced your dad that girls liking girls is a good thing?" Els flung the towel back onto the rack, and grabbed a selection of 'toys' she'd been keeping safe.

Still no response. _The little tease..._

"Tell ya what," Els backed through the door again. "Ask me nicely, and you can be on t-"

Els' toys  fell from her arms.

Eyes wide and staring, she crashed to her knees, unable to form so much as a sentence.

For her teenager was certainly on top alright.

She was on the ceiling.

Eyes blackened out and opaque, her raven haired beauty was lost amidst a swirling vortex of endless darkness.

"No...!" Els finally gasped out, her head falling into her hands, "No, NO NO!"

But there was nothing that could be done. Her teenager was lost to the vortex, and as quickly as it had all happened, it disappeared.

The blonde wept on the floor as the only trace of Jazzy's attacker floated down from the ceiling and onto the strewn bed sheets;

A little yellow flower.


	2. Chapter 2

Darkness was all she could see. Her breathing, heavy and elevated, misted into the cold, empty void barely a split second after it escaped her chapped lips.

The teenager sunk down onto one knee, and gulped. She could _feel_ the many eyes, scanning the room for her. And there she was with her back to them, armed with nothing but an empty nine millimetre, and the very darkness her pursuers lived in.

The air was so thick, she could practically taste the blood in it. A droplet of freezing sweat shivered down her temple. _Just sitting here won't solve the problem._

A hand crept underneath her shirt, _stupid tiny jeans pockets! Why did I wear jeans tonight?!_ , and extricated from her sidestrap, was a spare magazine.

Her last magazine.

 _Easy, easy..._ She grimaced, desperately silent as she clicked the old magazine out of her pistol. _Phew!_

The magazine's replacement slowly slid back in, and clicked into place with a tiny 'thock!'

And she pulled back on the barrel, loading the first bullet. Twelve chances of getting out of here alive.

With an empty magazine in one hand, and a full Beretta in the other, the teenager straightened up. _It's okay, they're just zombies...!_

She threw the magazine into the air, and grinned.

_I'm here to kill zombies and chew bubblegum..._

The magazine clattered to the ground.

"And I'm all outta gum!" She yelled, bursting from her cover and emptying a bullet into the first zombie. It crumpled to the ground with a groan, and the teenager jumped over it, punching two more holes into another zombie.

"Muhhhn!" A voice roared from nowhere, startling the young woman. But the reward for its efforts amounted to a mouthful of gunmetal.

The fourth bullet was fired, and zombie brains splattered.

"Not, gonna, get me that easy." She smirked, retrieving her gun and whacking another zombie with it. It groaned, and bared its teeth, but surprisingly enough, it didn't find her foot very appetising.

Five six seven! And another zombie shattered to the floor.

A skillful judo roll was needed, as sharp claws just barely missed her arm.

Eight nine! Put another zombie in its place. Three bullets remaining, one opponent.

And two red eyes stared at her.

"Yaaaaagh!" The teenager cried, and charged forwards with the final zombie in her sights. Because her chances were looking good right now. The two red eyes were just feet away from her now. With victory in her sight, the teenager put her best foot forward, and-

*click!*

"Hssssh!" The redhead seethed, shielding her eyes from the blinding light. "The fuck?!" She threw her pistol to the ground, and shielded her eyes, "What was that forrrr?!"

"Getting a bit err... _enthusiastic_ , huh Anna?"

"Ugh..." Anna rubbed at her startled eyes. "C'mon Flynn! No fair!"

"Hey hey, just reminding you that this  _is_ reality." Her brown haired assailant chuckled.

"Pff, who needs reality?" Anna laughed him off, as her vision finally returned to her. She cocked an eyebrow, and surveyed her handiwork. What wasn't riddled with bullets had either been kicked over or in some other way destroyed.

"Don'cha think you got a bit too into it?" Flynn sidled alongside her, arms folded. "I mean, why'd you throw the magazine?"

"To distract the zombies with noise!" Anna replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "...I was in the zone, alright," she grimaced, and raised her hands up dismissively. "Don't question the zone!"

"You jumped out from behind cover, and shouted 'I'm all outta gum!'"

"The zone!"

"Alright then, what did little Suzie do to deserve a roundhouse?" Flynn asked of her, and picked up the severed 'zombie' head.

"She... was a witch!" Anna flailed an excuse. "She was using her witchy powers to control her zombie army, and - oh, gods... this isn't working."

"You're telling me," Flynn threw the doll's head aside, where it bounced off the floor and muttered an eerie, 'ma...ma!'

"Ohh Anna, you couldn't bullshit your way out of a paper bag, could you?" The redhead mocked herself.

"Ahh, it's all about your approach." Flynn was the voice of experience. "Keep it simple, don't embellish too much, and use your poker face. They won't have any reason not to believe you."

"I guess..." Anna sighed. "Hey, when did I start taking this too far?"

"The part where you thought it was real." Flynn suppressed a laugh.

"Hey, a zombie apocalypse is scientifically possible, I'll have you know!" Anna snapped playfully at the taller man. "Why, these were just dolls and cardboard cutouts-"

"That you destroyed."

"Hell _yeah_ I did!" Anna raised a victory fist. "But one of these days, a cardboard cutout might be eating your brain! And when that happens, who'd'ya think'll be saving your ass?"

"The government?" Flynn teased.

"Nooo! Me, ya big, dumb, stupid, stupidhead!" Anna punched repeatedly at his arm. "The government wouldn't know what to do! They'd think you could stop a zombie horde with, I dunno, cheese or something!"

"Oh, so you're our lone defender?" Flynn pulled on a leather jacket.

"Yup!" Anna grinned, hands on her waist. "Hey, how much you got on you?"

"Err, some loose change?" Flynn rootled around in his many pockets. "Why?"

"Cause I could kill for some food right now," Anna's hands suppressed the ache in her stomach. "Ice cream, chocolate, pizza... Ooh, a chocolate ice cream pizza! That's a thing, right?"

"Oh, would you look at that..." Flynn counted the coins in his hand. "I'm just short. Why don't you go loot the dead over there? They might have some money."

"Hah! Like I'd risk getting bitten!" Anna smirked at him, provoking an eye roll. "But seriously, make with the noms. I'll pay you back?"

"I wouldn't put myself in debt if I were you," Flynn advised, shunting the fire door open with a palm thrust. The cool nighttime air wafted his hair back, blowing away the stale air of a long day.

"Aww, but I'm hungry now!" Anna moaned at him.

"Then go eat some zombie flesh. That'll perk you right up." Flynn zipped up his jacket. "Ya comin', ginger?"

"Ohh, fine..." Anna stomped after him. "You go home to your warm bed, and warm Punzy, and warm... warmth! And I'll stay hungry!"

"That's the plan..." Flynn picked through a set of keys. "Though she's at her mom's tonight. So it'll be just me. I'll have to suffer a whole steak by myself."

"Aww...! Whole steaks are my favourite..." Anna mock wept.

"And fries."

"Fries are my next favourite..."

"Now that's a real shame, Anna," Flynn finally found the key he was looking for, and locked the door. "C'mon, we should probably get going. I'm back here for work in five hours."

"Alright..." Anna sighed. "Thanks for letting me practice again, Flynn. I don't exactly get many chances, y'know?"

"Not a problem," Flynn waved his hand. "Just put it to good use."

"Alrighty!" Anna allowed Flynn a few feet before her smile eroded. "...it's been a while."

Another hand pressed down on her shoulder, and the redhead tensed up instantly.

"Three years, as a matter of fact!" Anna threw the hand down, and confronted her new visitor. "Where the fuck have you been?!"

"I-I... I umm," the woman was clearly thrown a curveball. She backed away, "I-I wanted to see you, Anna."

"Oh? You wanted to see me?" The redhead's teeth were bared. "Why did it take so long for you to pay a visit?!"

"I... was busy."

"Too busy to see _me_?" Anna cried. "Gods, Elsa... how did you even know where I was?"

"I... asked your neighbour." Elsa stared at her feet.

"Ohh, you mean crazy Maurice?" Anna's tone was suddenly light and airy. "Heh, figured he'd still be up at this hour."

"...so yeah, I decided I'd-"

"Come say hi to dear old me after so - _no wait_ , I'm mad at you!" Anna's voice flipped again. "You think you can just waltz back into my life after three years, like nothing ever happened?"

"I needed somewhere to stay, and... and couldn't think of anyone else." Elsa continued to make friends with her feet.

"Oh, so I'm worthy of your presence when your life's falling apart?" Anna's lips were thin. "Just what catastrophe befell you, oh dear Elsa?"

"Can I... tell you later?" Elsa spoke behind her hand, very wary of the company in the distance.

"Am I missing anything, ladies?"

Anna pointed a condemning finger at her sister. Quick as a flash, her glare was transformed into a cheerful smile. "Flynn! You're still here?!"

"It'd be cruel to leave without you," Flynn had his arms folded, and his keys jingling. "And besides, this was interesting. I didn't know you had friends?"

"Well umm, actually, Flynn..." Anna wrung her hands. "Th-this is Elsa. I've told you about her, right? She's my... my sister."

If Flynn was surprised, he didn't show it. "You have a sister?"

"Y-yes! Yes I do! And that means you have a cousin-in-law! Wait, is that a thing?"

"Not yet it isn't..." Flynn muttered, a hand tensing in the pocket of his jeans. "Anyway, time's a-wasting. We goin' home or what?"

"Yesss!" Anna cried, before dashing back to her sister. "We'll talk about this later."

Anna stared the blonde down for a moment, before suddenly embracing her in a rush. Elsa flinched back in response, but the redhead held her tight.

"It's so good to have you back..." She whispered, before dashing off again, this time after Flynn. "Back in a second!"

The garage door was opened with the heavy, juddering noise of bending metal. Both Anna and Flynn went inside, leaving Elsa in the driveway with no idea what to expect.

But then the engine kicked in.

Unmistakably a V8 roar, a pair of headlights flashed as the engine was revved. And despite everything, a smile touched at Elsa's lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. This is an update. Introducing Anna into the story, as well as a couple of supporting characters. I've got plans for several different Disney films, which I'll incorporate into the tags as the story progresses bcus spoilers.
> 
> As always, feedback is wonderful, and I love it. Please send me some if you can spare a moment.
> 
> This is all from me for now. Hope it doesn't disappoint!


	3. Chapter 3

Elsa heard the welcome revving of a powerful engine; a guttural, muscle packed growl.

She took a step back to admire the work of art. Every inch of the beast had been waxed, with a pair of white stripes trailing down the centre of the purple finish. _Oh, that's so Anna..._

The engine block rattled, and the beast roared again. Ready for a passenger, perhaps?

Elsa's quivering hand reached for the door handle, and the window veered down.

'Pfffewwww...'

"Not quite." A deep voice, far deeper than Elsa was expecting, left the driver's seat. Elsa peered in through the window, and found Flynn smirking at her. In spite of it being past midnight, the man donned a pair of sunglasses in combination with his leather jacket and cocky smoulder.

"She'll be out in just a minute," Flynn advised, and put a foot on the gas. The V8 grunted at her derisively as the _glorious_ purple mustang ate the corner in front of it.

And what was left?

'Rrremmmm... remm, remm, remmm!' Anna pootled past her vision. The garage door shuttered behind her, and Anna grinned. "Heyyy!"

Elsa blinked. "...hello?"

"I disappointed you, didn't I?" The redhead looked away.

"Oh, no no, not at all," Elsa berated herself internally. "I was just... mistaken, that's all."

"I know, huh? Wouldn't it be _great_ to drive that monster?" Anna giggled. "Apparently Punzy picked the colour!"

Elsa's eyes widened. "...oh. Makes sense."

"So yeah, climb aboard!" Anna pat the half a seat behind her, revving the tiny engine of her vespa. "You want the helmet, or should I?"

"Err... does it make a difference?" Elsa couldn't help but ask.

"Well, whoever isn't wearing it will look like they're on their way back from a date with a _mysterious stranger!_ "

"...I'll take it." The older sister made up her mind, and received the lime green crash helmet from Anna.

"Alright then, miss mystery," Anna bit her lip. "Climb aboard! We're homeward bound!"

Gingerly, Elsa arranged herself around Anna. Her arms snaked around the redhead's waist, and with a couple more test revs, the vespa was away, screaming off down the road.

The asphalt remained mercifully uneaten as Anna's little scooter rumbled along. Her cinnamon braids floating out behind her, she barely even remembered that her older sister was there. Were it not for the arms around her waist, she would have forgotten completely. Elsa, on the other hand, was lost in an alien world. With Anna's hair covering up what little the green visor didn't obscure, she was barely aware of anything at all right now. She could hear her own breathing, which made for an interesting novelty, and she could feel the presence of her little sister between her arms, a presence she had lamented for three years.

"Not much longer now!" Anna yelled back at her sister, after a few minutes of awkward silence and wind.

"I know! I walked it!" Elsa yelled back.

"Oh yeah!" Anna shouted. After a sudden stop at a 'bastard fucking' red light, and an avoidance of eye contact from a night patrolman, the little vespa eventually rounded one last corner, stuttering to a stop in front of a modest wooden flat.

"Remember this place?"

Elsa tugged the helmet from her head. Static electricity crackled through her hair as the green filter was finally lifted.

"Of course. How could I forget?"

_The photo in her hands felt like a lead weight. It was only a simple photo, a self-taken shot of a fifteen year old Anna, standing in front of a building and sporting the 'rock on!' symbol with her other hand, but she could barely even look at it for how much guilty bile it dredged up._

_'"Hey Elsa!" She had written. "Guess who's got themselves a flat!! It's not much, but it's got all the stuff it needs. The landlady scares me, but I can make rent with my part time job, and the money mom and dad left me, so I don't think I'll be dragged off to her torcher dungeon just yet!_

_Once I learn to cook stuff, you've gotta come over for a visit! It can be like a sleep over if you want, like when we were ~~kiss~~ kids!_

_Anyway, I just thought I'd say hi. So hi! ⛄_

_Good luck with that interview thing! You'll do great! Just show them the real you!'_

"Ahh, so you _did_ receive those letters I sent?" Anna smirked, dismounting her vespa. She wheeled it into a protected corner, and folded her arms. "It would've been nice if you wrote me back, y'know?"

"I... I was busy." Elsa hung her head.

"For three years?" Anna's voice was straining. "What the hell kept you busy for three _years_?"

"Lots of... things." Elsa averted her gaze. The metallic guilt in her throat was bubbling closer to the surface, threatening to spill its contents at any moment.

"Well, it doesn't matter." Two strong hands gripped her at the shoulders, and shook her back to reality.

"I can tell it's bothering you, so for now, let's just get inside and call it a night. You can tell me when you're ready, okay?"

Elsa felt herself falling forwards into Anna's arms. "...alright. Thank you Anna. That really does mean a lot, y'know?"

"Don't worry about it," said Anna. "Heh, your hair's gone all floofy."

"Eh? It has?!" Elsa flailed, running her own hands through her hair to find it a static mess. "Ohh, _dammit_! A fifty buck perm, down the drain..."

 _"Fifty...!"_ Anna gasped. "Right, you, that's another thing we gotta discuss at some point."

"We... do?" Elsa popped an eyebrow.

"Yes, we do. Now, get inside, and enjoy my shitty home."

"Wha?" Elsa found herself being steered up the splintery steps. "Oh c'mon Anna, I'm sure your home isn't all that-"

"Hey, my home is all that." Anna poked out her tongue. Wielding an enormous keychain, one that featured more trinkets and doodads than actual keys, she attempted to negotiate the front door open.

"God damn, son of a..." Anna held her tongue in between her teeth in concentration. "Dammit Mr Pickles, get out of the way!"

"Mr... Pickles?" Elsa couldn't help but chuckle.

"He's this little guy here!" Anna wiggled a phone charm at her sister, oddly enough depicting a purple bird of some kind. "He's mischievous, and gets in the way sometimes, and - GOTCHA!"

The keys twisted, and the front door finally swung open.

"Hah! Take THAT, door!" Anna pointed tauntingly at the tired wooden frame, and beckoned Elsa inside.

The blonde's expectations... crashed at the door.

'Humble' was not a strong enough word. _this is what our parents' money funded?_

From the mangy carpeting to the peeling walls and the bizarre smell she couldn't identify - _old bananas and feet?_ \- everything about this place so far just screamed 'ew!'

"Well, it's nothing amazing..." Anna noticed her sister's nose wrinkle. "But what's mine is yours, Els."

"That isn't much..." Elsa glanced around nervously. Glancing down she could see impressions in the carpets where things once were.

"Yeah, well money's tight right now..." the redhead sighed, dumping a heavy sounding bag onto the floor. "I'm afraid you're stuck with the couch for something to sleep on. But that's okay, cause there's blankets and stuff!"

"I haven't slept in sixty hours, Anna," Elsa managed a smile. "Don't worry, I could sleep on a... rock."

Actually seeing the couch had her less convinced.

Back in its heyday, it might have been considered a 'charming' little two seater. But that charm had long disappeared, it seemed. The fabric bad been patched so many times that it was bulging in places from escaped stuffing and extra layers. A suspicious looking stain had taken over one of cushions, and there was a puncture in the armrest that looked a little too much like a bullet hole. Elsa was so preoccupied with staring at it that she didn't even notice the blanket that was thrown at her.

"Eyah?!"

"Took ya long enough," Anna managed a smirk. "Anyway, as I was saying, dear sister. I'll be sleeping just through here, so try not to wake me. Bathroom is just over there, and you are currently in the sitting room, the dining room, and the kitchen. If you're hungry, feel free to find something to eat. Other than that... just make yourself at home, okay? I know it's probably not what you're used to..."

"No no, that's okay Anna!" Elsa forestalled her. "This is perfectly okay. I just need to... settle in! That's all..."

"If you're sure..." Anna mumbled. Padding across the floor in her bare feet, the redhead yawned. "Just be good to old yeller, got it?"

"Old yeller?" Elsa was flummoxed.

"It used to be yeller." Anna nodded to the ramshackle couch, now lost somewhere between grey and brown.

Elsa smiled, despite herself. "Goodnight Anna."

Anna stopped in her tracks. The tiniest upturn of the lips.

"...goodnight, Elsa."

The younger sister shuffled off into her room. Her door was squished shut, and Elsa was left on her own. With little more than the clothes on her back, the platinum blonde was still reeling from the last few days.

_How could life go from perfect to... this, so quickly...?_

Elsa stripped off her dayclothes, and curled herself up in the ice cream patterned blanket that Anna had thrown at her. _Did everything in this house smell weird?_

And then it was the couch's turn. Despite three layers of blanket, the thick, mangled springs still found their way through, punishing Elsa's sensitive skin. Every movement she made resulted in noise, which varied from irate creaks to grumpy groans. No matter what she tried, she couldn't find any position that promised comfort. Regardless of her efforts, something was in some level of pain. Elsa gave up on using the armrest as a pillow after some time, due to the particularly solid substance it seemed to consist of. A painful search however, on behest of her overtired brain, yielded an unusual discovery.

"What the?" She muttered to herself, flicking a switch on the device and powering it up. A green light blinked back at her, followed by the nostalgic glow of a handheld games console.

One of those old ones, from about ten years ago.

Her eyes adjusting to the bright light, Elsa gulped down a yawn and smirked to herself.

In three years, Anna hadn't changed one bit.


	4. Chapter 4

Music.

The first thing Elsa remembered was music.

More specifically, the crappy 8-bit music coming from the games console she'd found last night. The cheerful jingle was pounding her ears, and the gap in the curtains was _just_ big enough, _just_ in the right position, to burn her corneas within an inch of their lives.

"Ohh, gods..." Elsa grunted, feeling her neck protest as her nose woke up to the 'essence' of Anna's flat. _Has something died in here?_

The blonde wrenched herself into a sitting position on the old couch, feeling as though every joint in her body currently hated her. Her neck had just cracked painfully again, with the dull threat of a headache lurking in the back of her head, while her left arm was still asleep, due to the position she was forced to lie on it last night, and there was an odd bruise forming on her other thigh, caused by some weird lump under the cush-

Bullets. Yes, a box of bullets.

"Oh, no..." Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose. There was no good explanation to finding a _box_ of bullets inside someone's couch. At best, she was going to hear 'it's a rough neighbourhood!', and just thinking of her innocent little sister defending this dump from armed criminals...

Elsa didn't want to think about it. Speaking of this dump, what was she to do?

She glanced around the tiny room, and noticed just how barren it was. Judging by the indentations in the carpet, there used to be a TV in the opposite corner to herself, but of course it had since been removed, and the bug-eaten couch was about the only thing remaining. That, and the ancient handheld Elsa had found, which was still playing that infuriating jingle to itself. Elsa was lost for entertainment. She wasn't sure she understood whatever game was playing on the console, and Anna was a heavy sleeper, and probably wasn't going to be up for the next few-

But then Elsa received the shock of her life when Anna waltzed into the room in bright pink pyjamas. How entirely unlike her.

"Good morning world~" The redhead chanted to no one, spinning around on one foot just because. "Eight o'clock, time to hunt some monst-wah?!"

"Yah?!?"

"Gah!!"

Finally, Anna noticed her older sister in the room.

"H-hello there Elsa!?" She squawked out a response.

"What, did you forget I was here or something?" Elsa's eye twitched. She knew her sister was an airhead three years ago; an endearing trait, if a little irritating at times.

But still?

"Well, yeah..." Anna's eyes scrolled to the left. "I've woken up in this flat alone almost every day for the past three years, Elsa. Visitors are... a bit of a novelty."

"Well I'm not surprised, after a greeting like th-" Elsa had begun, however the reproach in Anna's eyes halted her tirade. "...sorry."

Anna offered a weak smile in response. The joke had _almost_ worked.

"I-I'm sorry," Elsa sighed, pulling herself out of the couch gravity and placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "You've been through a lot."

"That obvious, huh?" Anna's eyes held no sparkle. "Yeah, it's been a tough few - oh yeah!

"Hunh?" Elsa's confusion spiked.

"We've got stuff to talk about!" Anna exclaimed, and dashed back into the other room. There was a loud shuffling, followed by the unfurling of clothes, and a lot of banging. Next thing Elsa knew, the redhead was back in the doorway, dressed in her usual ripped jeans and band tee shirt - a staple that hadn't changed since she was fourteen - and a hand on one hip.

"We need to talk." She held a straight face as best she could.

"Y-yes..." the older sister stammered. Her eyes drifted over to the box of bullets she found in the couch earlier. "I've got some... questions for you, too."

"Really?" Anna's voice squeaked with a lot more anticipation than she would've liked. "L-like what?"

"Like where all your stuff's gone?" Elsa began. "What you're doing for a living now, why this place is such a mess, why there's _bullets_ lying everyw-"

"Whoa, whoa whoa...!" Anna silenced her sister with a finger to the lips. "One at a time, okay? Don't wanna spill all my beans at once."

"...alright," Elsa sighed. She took a deep breath. "We should probably get some breakfast or something first, huh?"

"Breakfast?" Anna frowned. "Geez, there's a word I haven't heard in a while. Errm... you can have a look and see what's in if you want, but I'm not makin' any promises."

"Alllrighty then..." Elsa grimaced, already regretting the grimy substance sticking her hand to the fridge door. "Man, I could kill for a frappuccino right now..."

"Oh, listen to you, Miss Fancypants." Anna rolled her eyes in the background as she dusted off an old teapot.

"Do you have anything to eat other than pop tarts and ramen?" Elsa grimaced at the contents of the fridge. "Why're noodles even in the fridge anyway?"

"Because they're safe there."

"Safe from _what_?"

"Mice."

Elsa slammed the fridge door. "Alright, we need to get outta here."

"Wha? What's wrong with mice? Mice are nice!"

"They're vermin?"

"But they're so _cute_!"

"Don't care," Elsa shuddered. "Let's talk over some real food. I know this great mixed cuisine just a couple blocks away."

"Errm..." Anna set down the old teapot with a clink. "I dunno if you've noticed Elsa, but I'm not exactly swimming in money..."

And heartstrings were tugged.

"Ohh, I know..." Elsa soothed, looping one of the redhead's stray curls behind her ear. "I can tell things are a bit tough right now. So tell you what? To make up for turning up on your doorstep, this is my treat. Got it?"

"R-really?!" Anna barely avoided choking.

"Really really," Elsa smiled. "And after that, I'll get you some real food. Y'know, meat, staples, _vegetables!_ And gods, I could do with some fresh clothes..."

"Hey yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that!" Anna exclaimed. "I mean, just how bad did your life fuck up for-"

"-Anna."

"...oh! Keys!" Anna rushed straight past her sister and her sister's point, and jammed her keys into the door.

* * *

"It costs _how much?!"_

Anna slapped down the menu. Her eyes bulged at the pompous, flowery print on the pretentious, fancy pants menu. "For a plate of pasta?!"

"Oh Anna, just order something!" Elsa hissed from behind her own menu. "I'm paying for this, so you don't need to worry about the price."

"Oh, so I can get the lobster, champagne, a tee...rah...misoo, and a cream brolly?"

"Elsa buried her face in her arms. "Look, I said 'it's on me', not-'"

"Are ya ready to order?"

Both sisters flinched, making identical faces at the waitress who had just arrived. Her jet black hair reached her impossibly skinny waist, and her professionally forced smile was clearly a strain on her facial muscles.

"Oh, hiya sweetie. Just a second." Elsa flashed back a comforting nod, and gave her sister a sharp stare.

"Order already!" She hissed.

"Alright alright..." Anna groaned. "I'll errm... I'll take the la-sag-knee and umm... does it come with fries?"

Anna earned herself a glare.

"It... can do?" The waitress recovered from her stunned expression before Anna could notice.

"Well I'd love a la-sag-knee and fries then!" Anna smiled warmly at the waitress. "Your turn, Elsa!"

Elsa plastered a smile in record time.

"Eheh, h-hi there..." She stammered, fluttering the fingers of one hand. "I'll... just have a side of French toast, please."

"Alright, we can do thaaat..." The waitress scribbled some notes down on her pad. "You sure you just want the toast? It's basically the same price with bacon and maple syrup?"

"Ooh, European!" Anna gasped, and Elsa rolled her eyes.

"N-no thanks. I should be fine without-"

"She'll take it!" Anna interjected.

"Anna!" Elsa yelled back.

"B-but then I can try some?"

"...I'll take the bacon and syrup too, please." Elsa's jaws were starting to ache.

"Alllrighty," the waitress amended her notes. "And to drink? Anything?"

"I'll just take a water pl-"

"Milkshakes!" Anna interrupted again. "They come in chocolate, right?"

"They do indeed." The waitress clicked her pen. "Best milkshakes for miles."

"I'll take thirtee-!" Anna begun. Elsa coughed loudly.

"...just the one, please." Anna spoke into her shoulder. "O-oh, and she wants one too!"

"...you're okay with that?" The waitress conferred with Elsa.

"Sure, sure..." Elsa waved her hand dismissively.

"Okay, good choices!" The waitress flipped her notebook shut. "You ladies just wait here, and we'll be back soon."

And with her professional flounce, the waitress walked off, disappearing behind flappy doors on the other side of the room.

"Ooh, you hear that? Soon!" Anna enthused.

"I dread to think what this is all gonna cost..." Elsa grimaced, her arms a steady fortress to shield Anna from her view.

"Well why'd you order so much stuff then?" Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"You ordered most of it!" Elsa cried, startling the patron behind her. "...sorry!"

"Ohhh yeahh, so I did." Anna's eyes widened. "Oops! I guess I just got excited, huh?"

"Just a little..." Elsa coiled her arms tighter still, now that her face was burning crimson.

"Ahh well. Not every day we get to have breakfast together, is it? Gotta make the most of it."

Elsa removed her arms, and found her little sister immersed in the novelty of the kids' menu. She'd found a pencil from... somewhere, and was animatedly scoring across the sheet of paper with it.

"...really?" Elsa frowned. "I thought we were gonna have a serious talk?"

"In juuust a moment," Anna mumbled. "I gotta get Mr Fox home safe!"

Elsa's head tipped forwards, and crashed into the table, scattering the neatly organised cutlery, shakers and Anna.

"Ohhh, now look what you made me did!" Anna wailed, pushing her ruined puzzle at Elsa. "Mr fox got eaten by otters! Now I gotta get a new one..."

"Uggghh..." Elsa groaned. "Anna, are you gonna take this seriously, or are we just going to-"

"Ma'am, is there a problem here?"

Elsa blanched even paler than normal. Her hands shaking, she craned her neck upwards to confront the speaker. A rather, corpulent fellow, to say the least, this man stood at least six foot tall. His flash white suit reflected the sun's rays, and made him appear even more intimidating, somehow.

"O-oh, n-not a problem! Not at all!" Elsa stammered, barely meeting the red-haired man's gaze.

"Hey, wait..." Anna narrowed her eyes, and Elsa felt her stomach shrivel. "Are you _the_ Big Daddy?"

"Why I sure am, lil' missy!" The big man's demeanour changed instantly, instead raining beams down upon Anna. "An' I was just makin' sure mah lovely customers were enjoyin' their mornin'. No loud noises or anythin'."

"Ahh... Ohh..." The situation hit Anna mid sentence. "A-and you were gonna tell us we were being noisy?"

"If you could calm it just a little bit, sugah." 'Big Daddy' advised. "Then I'd appreciate it. Wouldn' want m'customers complainin', would we?"

"N-n-no we wouldn't!" Elsa squeaked out a response. "S-sorry for making the noise!"

"Not a problem, honey," Big Daddy winked. "Oh, and you spilled the salt. Might wan' take care 'that."

"...duly noted." Elsa smiled. She sat the salt upright again, before taking a pinch and throwing it over her left shoulder.

"You know, I've lived near here for three years, and I never met him." Anna looked confused.

"...what do you have to say for yourself?" Elsa's teeth were bared.

"...I finished the puzzle?" Anna fished for a response. "Look, Mr fox avoided the nasty leopard cops, and managed to hide under a bridge! And then-"

"Anna...!" Elsa growled. "Can you pay attention sometime today?!"

"Alright, stick in the mud, you win." Anna exhaled. She straightened up, and locked eyes with the blonde.

"Serious mode."


	5. Chapter 5

The pinch of salt had been thrown. The children's menus had been placed down out of reach. And the two sisters locked eyes.

"So, you wanted to ask some things?" Anna asked of the blonde.

"Y-yes," Elsa stammered back. "And I know you do too, so I'll go first, okay?"

"Aww, why do you get to go first?" Anna pouted playfully.

"Urgh," Elsa grimaced. "Because you've got a big-"

"-heeere ya go, ladies! Two milkshakes!"

Once again, the waitress appeared at just the wrong moment. She offered a courtesy smile before depositing a pair of enormous frosty milkshakes between the sisters, each topped with a veritable mountain of whipped cream, marshmallows and shaven chocolate.

"Ooh, hoo hoo hoo, these look _great_!" Anna flailed in her seat.

"-question." Elsa rolled her eyes, as Anna drained about a third of the milkshake in one gulp. "And I've got lots of little ones..."

"Little what?" Anna was lost in her milkshake. "Ohh, questions!"

Elsa's expression paled.

"Well okay then..." The redhead giggled. "After all, you are buying me breakfast. It's only fair you get to ask the first question."

"Alright then," Elsa sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair a couple of times, mentally phrasing...

"So where'd all your stuff go?"

Anna inhaled a marshmallow.

"Hnng?!" She coughed, retching it back up before washing it down again with more milkshake. "W-wow! You don't beat about the bush, do... ya?"

Elsa just offered a strained smile, as Anna's breath came back to her in hitches.

"Ba-si-cally..." She wheezed. "Money's not good right now. So I sold my stuff to pay the bills. I'm good for another month!"

"Okay...?" Elsa's concerns spiked. "So I take it you don't have a job right now?"

"Err, that depends on what you call a 'job'," Anna's middle and index fingers flexed. "If you mean an occupation that involves getting up at like six in the morning, commuting for an hour, and getting yelled at by your grumpy ass manager for ten hours straight, then I quit that one seven months ago."

"And you quit because...?"

"Well, when I say 'quit', I secretly mean 'got fired'?" Anna grinned awkwardly.

"You got fired?!"

"In a good way, don't worry!"

"Anna, how can you get fired in a good way?" Elsa's eye twitched.

"Because I taught an asshole a lesson," Anna beamed with pride. "Y'see, I used to work at this pizza place called the Southern Isles out yonder that way." she pointed east. "And while the pay was okay, and the free pizza was _great_ , the commute was nasty, and the uhh, _benefits..._ "

"Not so great?" Elsa's eyes showed empathy for the first time that morning.

"Long story short, the manager's son visited," Anna's cheek dimpled. "He was one of those entitled little bitches that thought he could get what he wanted, when he wanted it. And he uhh, wanted me, it seemed."

"Ohh no..."

"Uh-huh," Anna nodded, spooning the bottom of her milkshake. "One morning, I was preparing for the evening rush, and the obnoxious creep grabbed my ass,"

Elsa choked on her first spoonful of cream.

"So I broke his nose."

Elsa was both worried and impressed at her sister's level of nonchalance.

"S-so yeah, I didn't even try to defend my job. I just walked out the door. And lemme tell ya, watching that little bitch - I think his name was Hans? - get stretchered out cause of something _I_ did... felt awesome."

"Okay, right..." Elsa felt a tiny stab of pride towards her sister. All those self defence lessons had paid off after all. "That explains... a lot. So next question; who's this Flynn guy?"

"Heeyyy, wasn't it my turn?" Anna complained. "I've got questions too~!"

"Ohh, we've got plenty of time Anna," Elsa placed her hand on her sister's. "You can ask me s-"

"'scuse me?"

Both sisters were shocked out of their conversation. Standing to Elsa's right, the waitress had once again appeared out of nowhere, this time balancing two heavy plates of food.

"Sorry to butt in," she smiled, "but could you both please move your arms?"

"Ohh, right!" Anna guffawed, and shook her hand away from Elsa's. "Good call!"

"Thanking you both~" the waitress' sing-song voice trilled, as she arranged plates by sisters. Anna's heaving breakfast lasagne came with a mound of crispy fries large enough to daunt even an experienced glutton. Elsa's French toast on the other hand, was concise and delicate. It was still a sizeable stack, complete with the bacon and maple syrup that Anna had insisted on, but it was nevertheless dwarfed by the redhead's starch mountain.

Elsa's eyes bulged at the sheer volume of food opposite her, before she remembered herself; "Th-thank you, honey. To go to so much effort this early in the morning..."

"Ohh, it's not an effort, ma'am." The raven haired waitress folded her tray under one arm. "We get odd requests all the time. Why, there was a guy who came in yesterday ordering beans and bacon, covered in _lard_ , with a whole bottle of single malt whiskey on the side! At nine in the morning!"

"Well, umm...!" Elsa was stumped. "Either way, you've given us excellent service, young lady. You can expect to see it in the tip."

And a genuine smile touched on the waitress' face for the first time that morning. "Why thank you ma'am, that's sweet of you. Ohh, and that reminds me!"

She rifled through her notes, and cleared her throat. "Our cook says she's impressed on how much you guys ordered! Finish your meals, and it's half price!"

"Ooh, sounds like a challenge!" Anna grinned.

"That's right," the waitress nodded. "Good luck, ladies."

"Ya hear that, Elff?" Anna's mouth was already bulging as the waitress took her leave. "Half pryff!"

"Only if you can finish that," Elsa grimaced at the size of it all. "Who knows, maybe that unfillable stomach of yours will finally come in useful?"

"HAH! Anna squawked. "Just watch this food... disappear!"

"Anyway..." Elsa snorted, noticing that her sister had already made a noticeable dent in the lasagne. "You still haven't told me about this Flynn?"

"Whum?" Anna blinked. And swallowed about a third of her bodyweight. "Ohh, right! Flynn!"

Another massive mouthful was devoured. "Flynn runs this shooting range thing in town, as you saw. We met through Rapunzel. You remember Punzy, right...?"

"Yes, of course I remember Punzy...!" Elsa sighed.

"...I knew that." Anna muttered. "Anyway, you remember how her mom used to be really strict, back when we were kids? Well yeah, she's totally loosened up now. She lets Punzy go out on dates with Flynn, and even bring friends over! Oh, and that reminds me. We've gotta visit her soon."

"...I'll think about it." Elsa waved her fork around. "Now, what on earth were you doing in a shooting range at two in the morning?"

"I'm never gonna get a chance," Anna chuckled. "It's simple, really. I was there after hours because I can't use live ammo during the day."

"And just _what_ cataclysm requires an ordinary teenage girl to hoard stockpiles of live ammunition...?" Elsa winced, already dreading the answer.

"Ahh, so you know about that huh?" Anna averted her gaze, "y-yeah, I'm going there for uhh... training!"

"Tell me you're planning on joining the police force? Or _something_ respectable?!" Elsa begged of her sister. She could already feel her heartbeat racing, and her skin clamming up.

"Ahem... fraid not," Anna offered a guilty smile. She pushed her half-lasagne to the side, and made sure she was looking her sister in the eye.

"Y-y'see, Elsa..." The redhead bit her lip.

 _Please don't say it_.

"The thing is... I umm,"

 _PLEASE don't!_.

"I uhh, kinda went back to the old family business!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy August, people. Here be an update.
> 
> I'm glad to finally get the plot moving, at least a little bit. I know some of you think the story's a bit slow, so here's a booster. Shorter than the last chapter, but it has everything it needs... probably.
> 
> Alright, I'll shut up for now. As always, I'd love some feedback. So feel free to drop some if you can.


	6. Chapter 6

For a while, Elsa could only stare. Anna's words pounded in her head, splitting her sanity like a hammer on an anvil.

"I uhh... gimme a second," she mustered a smile, and scrambled away from the table. Anna responded, her words unintelligible through the sheer volume of her previous utterance, and waved her sister away with a noncommittal hand gesture. Elsa meanwhile had sidestepped the dark-haired waitress, and ambled into the restroom.

"Conceal, don't feel..." she repeated insistently, as she made her way into a cubicle and pressed her head against the wall. "Conceal...! Don't... feel. Conceal, don't f-f-"

"Y'know, if I didn't know better, I'da sworn you were hiding something." A voice interrupted, forcing an almighty jump out of Elsa.

"Yah?!" She gasped, and clutched at her weary heart. "O-oh, sorry! I... didn't know there'd be someone else in here."

"Not a problem, honey, " the voice audibly smiled. "Did you wanna talk to a stranger about it?"

"Ohh, I shouldn't bother you..." Elsa balled up one hand into a fist. "Just... having a panic attack, that's all."

"Well, take all the time ya need, sugar." The lady-in-the-next-cubicle offered. "After all, there's nothin' quite like the anonymity of the restroom."

"Th-thanks..." Elsa gasped, and clutched at a ream of toilet paper. She dabbed at her clammy face, and internally begged the feelings to just... go.

_"Alright Elsa, now it's your turn..." Said Agnarr, his larger, calloused hands wrapping around hers, and pressing cold gunmetal into them. "Hold it nice and steady, okay? And when you're ready, you pull on the trigger - that's this bit here - and try to hit that target over there. Got it?"_

_"B-but daddy, I'm scared!" A thirteen year old Elsa stammered, the weapon quivering in her hands._

_"You'll be fine, Elsa. Alright?" Agnarr looked his daughter in the eyes. "I know this looks scary, but your mother and I won't be around forever, and we need you to learn this. So just relax those stiff fingers, squeeze the trigger, and let it go."_

_"O-okay," Elsa gulped. Her hands were already sweaty, even though the room wasn't far from freezing. The cold metal in her hands was heavy, ever so heavy, and the power held within it... she didn't want to even think about that._

_Her hands were still shaking, as the target blurred farther and farther away from her. Grimacing, Elsa squeezed her eyes shut, and pulled the trigger._

_*BANG!*_

_"Agh!?"_

_Agnarr gasped, and dashed away, as Elsa's vision faded into black..._

"Elsa! Elsa, you in there?! Talk to me sweetie..."

Elsa snapped back to reality with a start. Her neck cricked as the four walls of the cubicle once again surrounded her, and she had to take a moment before a cohesive response could even be conceived, forget uttered.

Smacking her lips, Elsa wet her oddly dry mouth. "...sweetie?"

She unbolted the door, and staggered out of the stall. "I haven't been called that in y-"

"Oh gosh, you're okay!" Anna spluttered through a veil of tears, as she latched onto her sister and held tight. "I was so worried! You were gone for like half an hour!"

"Half an... half an _hour_?" Elsa stammered back to her sister. "B-but it couldn't have been. I was only away for a few minutes! Ten, at most!"

"I'm afraid not, Elsa..." Anna stroked Elsa's platinum locks. "The chef told me where you were, so I came to get you. And it's a good thing I did, huh? What happened??"

"Ohh, I was just... remembering when we were kids," Elsa averted her gaze, and stole a glance at the redhead's shoulder.

"Lost in the past, huh?" Anna chuckled. "I hear ya. Easily done."

"Mm," Elsa felt relieved to dodge that particular bullet. "H-hey, wait a sec. Why did it take you half an hour to come find me?"

"Welllll, I didn't want the food to get cold, and I figured you needed your moment to yourself, so I uhh... finished my food?" Anna shrugged.

"I suppose I can't be mad at you for that," Elsa managed a weak smile. "It'll be really awkward eating on my own though..."

"Aha, well... that's not a problem!" Anna tittered. "You see, I... kinda, ate yours too."

"You did _what_?!" Elsa raged, flailing out of her sister's grip.

"But it was so cold and lonely..." Anna withdrew into herself.

"That's no excuse, Anna!" Elsa balled a fist. "Mom and Dad never taught you to-"

But the blonde's rage quickly melted away, now that her sister was recoiling at every word leaving her lips.

"...you know what? Don't worry about it," Elsa deflated, the last of her anger dissipating into an enormous sigh. "You probably needed it, anyway. Who knows when you last had a decent meal?"

"They are hard to come by lately..." Anna rubbed the back of her neck. Her thought train was disrupted however by Elsa's arms snaking around her.

"Don't you worry about a thing, alright?" Elsa smiled. "No matter what happens, you'll always be my ginger snap."

"You haven't called me that in years..." Anna mumbled into the blonde's chest.

"C'mon you, let's get out of here." Anna said, and shuffled her sister out of the bathroom.

"Well hi there, little missy!" Big Daddy gave the pair a rather excitable greeting. "We were wonderin' where ya'd gotten to? Thinkin' ya mighta skipped out on ol' Big Daddy."

"Oh no, not at all," Elsa managed a weak smile. "I just, umm... needed the restroom, that's all."

"Ain't a problem, ladies, ain't a problem at all," Big Daddy tugged on the hems of his suit. "Now, I trust it you had a good meal, li'l red?" He winked.

"Y-yes!" Anna stuttered. "Best... la-sag-knee I've had in years!"

"Aww, and we were hopin' for best ever?" Big Daddy managed a chuckle. "Welp, if I heard correctly, chef Tiana made y'all a promise? Finish ya meals, and get it half price?"

"Uh-huh?" Anna nodded.

"Well, colour me impressed, honey," the giant of a man bowed so low that his nose practically touched the ground. "That was some mighty impressive eatin'. How does one little lady eat so much?"

"I... I don't exactly know?" Anna's response was a meek shrug.

"Well, either way, you earned ya discount." Big Daddy smiled warmly. "Now, will ya be payin' cash or credit?"

"Errm..." Elsa muttered, rootling through her bag for her purse, then splitting it open and counting the notes. "H-how much was it?"

"Well, you'll be payin' full price for the 'shakes, ah'm afraid," Big Daddy nodded. "But half price for the food, that comes to... what was it again, miss Tiana?"

"$22.50!" A familiar voice called back from the kitchen.

"$22.50? That's not so bad," Elsa handed over a clean twenty and a crumpled ten. "Where's that lovely waitress gone? I'd like to see she gets her tip."

"Ohh, you must be talkin' 'bout Miss Violet." Big Daddy answered. "I do believe her shift finished, honey. But don' worry, I'll make sure she gets it!"

"W-well thank you, that's very kind." Elsa compressed her guilt into a smile.

"Y'all have a nice day now," Big Daddy bowed again. "I'd like to see you both back sometime! Gotta have m'rematch, little red!"

"Ohh sure, I'd love to eat here again!" Anna called, with a nudge in the side from Elsa.

"I'm not exactly loaded, y'know." She hissed into her sister's ear, as the two left the restaurant with the jingle of a bell.

"You coulda fooled me," Anna countered immediately. "There must've been $150 in there!"

Her remark was met with a sharp glare from Elsa.

"It's not wise to carry that much cash around," Anna lowered her voice. "Especially not in this part of town."

"I know that," Elsa dismissed her, and stepped ahead of her sister with the slightest of huffs.

"Ohh, sure ya do, miss West-side Fancy pan-" Anna began, but was cut off by her sister suddenly dashing around a corner.

"What... the?" The redhead narrowed her eyes, as the flashing blue lights of an ambulance hurtled past.

"Ohh, j-just an ambulance," Elsa exhaled a giant sigh. "Thank the gods-"

But the blonde was given another start as an arm crashed into the wall beside her.

"A-ANna?!" She gasped.

"Explain." Anna's eyes were cold and steely.

"Ex-explain what...?" Elsa tried to feign innocence. She made a half-tug on Anna's arm. It wasn't shifting.

"U-umm, I kinda need to get past, Anna..." Elsa mumbled. And another arm barred her exit from the opposite side.

"Once you explain." Anna's voice was just as unrelenting as her grip. Elsa gulped at the taut, lithe muscle along her sister's arms.

"Alright, fine..." Elsa groaned. "I'm kinda trying to avoid the law for a while, okay?"

"Bad?" Anna enquired, her imposing figure somehow towering over her taller sister.

"Eheh... define bad?" Elsa was visibly perspiring. And meanwhile all this tension was somehow ebbing. Footsteps clapped along the cobbled ground towards them, accompanied by a tuneless whistling. The ponytailed individual rounded the corner, only to happen across two young women. His whistling stopped.

"I'll... just leave you two ladies alone," he chuckled awkwardly, and resumed his whistling as he walked the other way.

"Ugh, happens every time," Anna groaned. "Look, Els, you know what I mean by 'bad'. Will the cops shoot at you if they see you?"

"Err, I hope not?" Elsa gulped.

Anna's stare still didn't ease up.

"...well it's a good thing you've got me here, huh?" Some light returned to her eyes.

"...that's it?" Elsa shivered. "No interrogation?"

"Maybe once we get home," Anna finally removed her hands from around Elsa at last.

Elsa gulped again. "Wh-what gave me away?"

"Hmm, was it the paying in cash, the lack of a car, the lack of clean clothes, or the crapping your pants at the sight of an ambulance?" Anna raised an eyebrow, her voice airy and smug.

"You do notice a lot," Elsa couldn't hide how impressed she was.

"Speaking of which, where _is_ your car?" Anna asked. "It'd make getting around a lot easier, huh?"

"Umm, yeah, it would actually," Elsa admitted. "My car's... still at my place. We can't go and get it, I'm af-"

"Say no more," Anna silenced her, extracting an ancient cell phone from the pocket of her jeans and dialling a memorised number.

 _"Hola!"_ Anna practically yelled into the phone in botched Spanish. _"Mi amigo pequeño, como es-"_

 _"Alright, stop it,"_ The voice on the other side crackled. _"Stop butchering my language, okay? I'm embarrassed for both of us."_

"...sorry," a goofy chuckle escaped Anna. "Audrey, my girl. You busy?"

 _"Depends what you call busy,"_ 'Audrey' audibly exerted effort through the phone. _"I got a '49 Ford that needs restoring, an engine to supe, and a transmission to fix."_

"Aww, so you've no time for little ol' me?" Anna's voice was practically sugar down the phone.

 _"Well, I do owe ya one favour..."_ Audrey grunted, clearly busy with something.

"Heh, that's what I like to hear," Anna smirked. "There's a car I want you to lift, alright?"

 _"Hey, I don't do that stuff any more,"_ Audrey's voice was one of displeasure. _"Not since my new job."_

"It's okay, don't worry!" Anna reassured her. "You've got permission! The owner just... can't be there right now. Because reasons."

 _"A'right, I won't ask,"_ Audrey sounded annoyed. _"What's the car?"_

Elsa moved to speak, but Anna forestalled her. "Powder blue WV Bug. Should be outside 113A Sycamore. Got all that?"

 _"Got it."_ Audrey muttered. _"I ain't promisin' nothing, a'right?"_

"You're the best, amigo." Anna grinned.

 _"It's amiga, Anna."_ Audrey sighed. _"Anyway, I'll seeya sometime."_

"Ciao!" Anna murdered yet another culture as she hung up the phone.

"Aaand done," she grinned, pocketing her phone.

"Just what circles do you walk in, to have those connections?!" Elsa's eyes bulged.

"Ohh, just... job perks, I guess." Anna shrugged. "I helped her out, so she owed me one. So that was a pretty big ask. The things I do for you, huh Elsa?"

"That was a big ask..." Elsa conceded. "Thanks, Anna. You're being a huge help."

"Heyy, not a problem!" Anna smiled.

"Alright, now onto the next step," Elsa sighed, resigning herself. "Shopping."

"Well that's not a big thing?" Anna looked confused. "There's a supermarket just down the ro-"

"WaltMart? You serious?" Elsa scorned. "There's no way we're going to-"

"Hang on, miss middle class, WaltMart has plenty of good stuff, for like a tenth of the price of your fancy crap." Anna folded her arms. "C'mon, we're talking burger and fries, not caviar and... I dunno, lobster!"

"I suppose..." Elsa sighed once again. "I just don't wanna waste money on cheap... crap."

"Maybe you should learn the value of something, Elsa. And not just the price."

Two hands grabbed Elsa by the shoulders, and steered her towards the giant complex in the distance...


	7. Chapter 7

"I'm telling you, they're the same!"

"No they're not!"

"The only differences are the branding and the price tag. Trust me, I know a guy."

"You always 'know a guy', Anna," Elsa groaned. Laden town with heavy shopping, the two young women were mountaineering the horribly inconvenient hill that stood between them and Anna's flat. On the way down, it didn't seem nearly as big an obstacle.

"And? I know many guys," Anna retorted. "Trust me. That expensive crap you're used to buying, is made in the same factory as this cheap crap."

"And you know that... for a... fact?" Elsa heaved, stopping for a moment to catch her breath.

"Yup!" Anna span around to address her sister. With a nod to the right, she added, "Factory's just over there."

Elsa followed Anna's nod, and her eyes were led to a certain 'Filleting Nemo'.

"...that's a horrible name." The blonde's eye twitched.

"Ehh, there's worse." Anna shrugged. "But seriously. The stuff you waste $1.98 on, is the same tuna fish you can buy for seventy cents in WaltMart."

"I'll believe that when I try it." Elsa dismissed the conversation. "But anyway. We've got plenty of food now - huh?"

"Whuh?" Anna stopped behind her, her reactions just fast enough to avoid a collision. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, wow..." Elsa gushed. Her shopping bags crunched to the floor, and she plastered herself across the hood of a powder blue car. "Ohh, little blue! You're here!"

"Heh, told ya she was good." Anna smirked. "Little blue...?"

"Hey, no judgy." Elsa straightened up again. "You call your _couch_ Old Yeller."

"Heyyy, I'm not judgy...ing!" Anna frowned. "I was just curious, that's all!"

"Well she's little, and blue," Elsa shrugged, reaching for the door handle. "What's so hard to-"

"-whoa whoa, what're you doing?" Anna interrupted, and tugged her sister's arm away from the car.

"Whaddya mean, what am I doing?" Elsa retorted immediately. "I'm taking a look inside, to make sure she's working fine!"

"Nnnot a good idea." Anna shot her down. "Think about it Els,"

Elsa flinched at the name.

"The police are after you. Suddenly, your car's been lifted. Don'cha think they might've noticed this?"

"Well..." Elsa averted her gaze.

"Hell, we're probably looking pretty damn suspect by just standin' here." Anna gestured the best four heavy shopping bags would let her. "So let's just leave her alone for a while, okay? Once the heat dies down, then you can play with Little Blue."

"...okay." Elsa sighed, and once again picked up her shopping bags. "I-I dunno what came over me there, Anna. Thanks for talking me out of it."

"Ohh, no biggie!" Anna grinned. "Thanks for not carrying the eggs!"

"Huh?" Elsa frowned. But she then picked up her wayward shopping, and realised. "Ohh..."

"Yeah, cause we wanna bakey eggs, not breaky eggs." Anna's eyebrows bounced. "Anyway, almost... ugh. Today of all days?"

"What's wrong?" Elsa shuffled to her sister's side.

"The landlady's here..." Anna groaned, and nodded to an old fashioned, hearse-like car parked outside her flat. 

"Mrs Tremaine!" Anna forced all the enthusiasm she could muster. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here! I had no idea you were gonna-"

"Annabelle." A cold voice stopped the redhead in her tracks. Garbed in a Victorian era maroon dress and charcoal beehive, this old lady seemed somehow both frail and threatening at the same time.

"I'm afraid I'm rather disappointed in the condition of the abode, Annabelle." Mrs Tremaine's nostrils flared.

"Oh umm, please, just call me Anna!" The redhead strained a grin. "And that's why I was out, Mrs Tremaine. My dear sister Elsa and I were... _acquiring_ cleaning err, stuff, and food! Can I offer you some tea?"

"I'll not have any tea, Annabelle." Mrs Tremaine shot her down. "Frankly, I'd rather not run the risk..."

"It's not _that_ bad..." Anna sighed to herself. "O-okay then! No tea! Would you rather something else, Mrs Tremaine?"

"Hmm..." The old lady muttered. Paralysing both sisters with a single stare, she said, "I'm not certain just yet. But I will decide, in time. Tread carefully, Annabelle."

With little more than a huff, the old lady clutched a black handbag to her midriff, and stalked away.

"Do I know you...?" Her eyes narrowed at Elsa.

"U-umm... I don't think so?" Elsa stammered out, feeling as though the matriarch's gaze was impaling her very soul. Mrs Tremaine turned to face the other way, however her eyes remained locked onto Elsa's for just that moment longer.

As if in slow motion, the old lady made a left, and walked back to where her car was parked. With every step she walked, Elsa could have sworn the temperature increased once again.

"Gods..." The blonde gulped, as Mrs Tremaine's old motor kicked into life, and rattled down the road.

"T-told ya she was scary, huh?" Anna shivered. "Though I dunno if scary is a strong enough-"

"-Anna, am I on any 'wanted' posters?" Elsa asked abruptly.

"Err... aside from that joke one we made when we were kids?" Anna shrugged. "I dunno, Els. People don't really use wanted posters any more. Times have moved on, y'know?"

"Well that lady knew my face from somewhere," Elsa's features remained frozen. "What about TV? Would that do it?"

"Probably," Anna shrugged. "I don't have a TV right now, but we can find one if you want?"

"Please." Elsa sighed.

"Alrighty then!" Anna smiled. "Just what did you do that's so ba-" she began. "O-oh yeah, we're still carrying groceries. Should probably put those away first..."

 

* * *

"Wait wait, so you're telling me you're a _gourmet chef_ now?" Anna raised an eyebrow at her older sister. "And you went to fucking _Paris_ for your training?!"

"Err... yes?" Elsa half-smiled.

"Meanwhile I was stuck here in this dump, barely able to make rent?" Anna glared at her.

Elsa's gaze fell to the floor.

"Look, it doesn't matter, okay?" Anna tugged a door open with one arm, and held her sister's hand with the other. "It was just a bit of a surprise, that's all. You're making dinner tonight!"

"Would you have it any other way?" Elsa smirked.

And for the second time in twenty four hours, the sisters were back at Flynn's shooting range. It lacked a punchy brand name, yet always seemed to make good business, being rarely without the odd customer or two.

"Look, listen a sec," Flynn pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know you're not gonna change your mind, so lemme just tell you straight, alright?"

His sigh drew out. "...You're not gonna be a navy seal. It's that simple, got it?"

"A-are you sure, mister?" The customer, kid in perhaps his early teens, asked. "Cause I was sure I hit every bullseye over there!"

"With how many bullets you used, you'd have to eventually..." Flynn groaned. "Anyway, can I do anything else for you uhh, Peter, was it? Cause I've got other customers..."

"Well I'm happy to go another roun-" The boy named Peter checked his pockets, "...oh. Shucks. Maybe not!"

"Take care on the way back, kid," Flynn smirked, and raised a hand in farewell. "And be careful where you use that sign language of yours. They might not appreciate it in the east end!"

"Got it, mister!" Peter grinned, and skipped past the two sisters. "Scuse me, doll."

"Doll?" Elsa raised an eyebrow. For a kid barely half her age to be calling her 'doll'...

"Who's the doll?" Anna asked innocently.

"Ladies!" Flynn rubbed his tired eyes. "Didn't expect you back so soon, Ann - what's with the shades, Blondie?"

Elsa started. "I umm..."

"Bit too much wine last night?" Flynn's pearly whites sparkled at her.

"Oh, n-no, I'm just... super sensitive to the light, that's all." Elsa flailed out what sounded like a believable excuse.

"Uh-huh," Flynn stroked his chin. "So, I take it you're here for a reason, girls? It is, after all, the daytime."

"Y-yes! Yes we are!" Anna answered immediately. "Could we borrow your TV for a minute? Mine's uhh, on the fritz!"

"Huh? I heard you traded it for takeout." Flynn was quick to quip. "So is it broken at your place, or-"

"Okay okay, guilty!" Anna raised her hands in defeat. "I'm sorry for lying, I just didn't wanna make you worry!"

"Not worried," Flynn shrugged.

"Some friend, weapons supplier, cousin-in-law-to-be you are!" Anna huffed.

"Whoa whoa, I am not a weapons _supplier_..." Flynn stared the redhead down. The middle aged lady in the background returned her gaze to the magazines on the shelf, and Flynn coughed.

"Careful, Anna. Gotta be more careful."

"Sorry!" Anna squeaked. "But we still gotta use your TV. And then we'll be out of your hair before you know it!"

"Alright, alright..." Flynn grabbed at the remote, and switched on a television set in the corner. "What channel? Take it you missed an episode of _ZSI_ or something?"

"Err, no...?" Anna glanced around the now empty reception. "We just wanted to check the ne- _weather_ , actually!"

"Uh-huh..." Flynn flicked through channels. "Well, here ya go. Your ne-weather'll be on just after the spor-news!"

"Thanks, Flynn!" Anna smiled, and gave the man a half hug. He rolled his eyes and waltzed back to the counter, flipping the remote into the air as he went.

 _"-the shoe is apparently worth millions,"_ the newscaster adjusted her glasses. _"So you might want to keep an eye out for it, folks. And now, for our breaking news story. Over to you, Eric."_

 _"Thank you, Jill,"_ the scene switched to that of a dark-haired man, standing outside an expensive looking hotel. " _Reports are still sketchy, but the best we can figure, several police forces are co-operating on the case'"_

Elsa's blood ran cold.

_"Of the disappearance of billionaire heiress, Jasmine Sultan."_

Anna exchanged a half concerned, half furious look with her sister.

 _"Local authorities are looking to track down their only potential suspect,"_ Eric the newscaster continued. " _Coming up on your screens right now._ "

And Elsa's entire body exploded with that awful clammy feeling, as the grainy black and white security footage flashed up on the TV screen. Despite the poor quality, it was obvious who the panicked blonde woman staggering out of the hotel room was.

As clear as the nose on her face.

Anna's jaw dropped, and Elsa simply wished for the ground to swallow her up. Save her from the inevitable rage...

"Now _that_ ," Flynn appeared out of nowhere, pointing at the screen. "Worries me."

And Elsa was sandwiched between two accusing stares as the news continued to blare in the background. The feelings of dread she had worked so hard to squash down were rising up again like nauseating bile. And yet eyes burned into her skin, like hot knives.

She had nowhere to hide...

_"And here's Bob with the weather!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, finally getting some plot moving!
> 
> Let me hear your thoughts, guys. This chapter's a bit scratchy, as I chucked it together in a pretty short time, but I'll try to clean it up soon.
> 
> Over and out!


	8. Chapter 8

"You know, Elsa..." Anna's voice was heavy. "When you said you were in trouble with the cops, I thought it was over some little thing, and you'd be fine in a week or so. I didn't think it'd be so serious that _international police_ wanna bust your ass?!"

"...eheh!" Elsa nerve-giggled, and distanced herself from the two damning stares.

"And it's not just anyone, but a world famous glamour model you're linked with! How the fuck did you even _know_ her?!"

"...r-remember how I said I worked in, P-paris?" Elsa stammered, the sudden heat proving unbearable.

"Ohhh, so miss fancy pants meets a fancy pants rich bitch, and then you... shared a motel room with her? Okay, this shit's just getting weird."

"I'll say," Flynn concurred. Arms folded and eyebrows knotted, he said. "Should I be comfortable with a wanted criminal in my store?"

It was then that Anna noticed the phone in his hands. "Aw c'mon Flynn, don't be a jerk." She scowled at him. "At least let her explain herself first."

"Alright then..." Flynn sighed reservedly.

"So, explain." Anna pointed. "No secrets, got it? I don't want you hiding anything any more. _Anything_."

"Th-that's fair enough. You deserve that much at least..." Elsa rubbed her forehead. "Okay, from the top. Jasmine and I hit it off in Paris. She would come in and order something almost every day. It didn't take long for us to stop talking and... a-and to... fall in love."

"In love?" Anna frowned. "She's _how_ old?"

"Legal!" Elsa flailed, before Anna could judge. "Legal in her country anyway!"

Her two interrogators remained stony faced.

"A-anyway..." Elsa continued. "Hey, how come you didn't say anything about-"

"You liking girls?" Anna forestalled. "Aw c'mon Elsa, you think I don't know my own sister? And besides, who am I to judge that sorta thing? Long as it's legal, I don't care who you fu-"

"-please." Elsa clamped a hand over the redhead's mouth. "A-a little more decorum here would be nice."

"Alright, alright..." Anna raised her hands in disarm. "So you hooked up with a famous glamour model, got that part. Why are you wanted for her disappearance?!"

"Errm..." Elsa gulped. "Well uhh, that's a lot harder to explain..."

"We've got all day, Els." Anna tapped fingers along her arm.

"Th-that _won't_ make it any easier!" Elsa squeaked. "Trust m-me, Anna. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Let's hear it _anyway_!" Anna urged, her and Flynn's expressions darkening further.

Elsa massaged the bridge of her nose, "alright, fine. I went to the restroom, and turned my back on her for _one minute_! A-and then there was this huge purplish black... thing! On the ceiling! And it swallowed her up, and she was gone, okay...?!"

Elsa collapsed to her knees, and tugged at her hair. _They'll never buy that..._

And the intense heat bared down upon her. Their obvious glared of hatred and damnation, searing through to her-

"So like a swirly black vortex of death kinda thing?"

Elsa's eyes bulged. "Y-yes!"

"And it left a flower behind, right?" Anna asked.

The blonde sprung back upright. "H-how did... how did you know?!"

"You, are, kidding me..." Flynn was lost in his own gaze as the two sisters met eye to eye once again.

"Remember Elsa? That's my sorta job!" Anna grinned. "Why couldn't you tell me before? That's a clue!"

"A... clue?" Elsa was beyond dumbstruck. "A-a clue to what?"

"The case!" Anna cried, practically floating. "H-hey Flynn? You mind if I get the file?"

"Be my guest..." An ashen-faced Flynn held up some keys.

"Thanks!" Anna grinned, and hugged the man tight before disappearing off behind the counter.

"So all of this..." Flynn mumbled. "It's all... real?"

"I-in a word?" said Elsa. "Yes. It's what our parents taught us."

And for the first time since their hasty introduction, Elsa could've sworn she saw a glint of empathy shining in-

"Heeere!" Anna burst out of nowhere, shoving an enormous folder into Elsa's face. "Got the case file!"

And Elsa simply gawped at the ridiculous smile on her sister's face. At the redhead's insistence, she leafed through the first dozen or so pages in the file, only to be greeted with a hauntingly familiar scenario.

"Recognise any of this?" Anna peered out from behind her.

"Err..." Elsa faltered. "There's not a whole lot of... _proof_ , in here?"

"Well how'm I s'posed to prove it, smarty pants?" Anna fake pouted. "You wantin' polaroids of the vortex of death or something?"

"I guess..." Elsa sighed. "But I'll tell you one thing, Anna."

"Mm?"

Anna rest her head sideways on Elsa's shoulder, and glanced up at her. The blonde subsequently dug her purse out of her handbag.

"You're right."

Elsa balanced both her purse and the file between her two hands, and extracted a tiny plastic bag from the purse.

Inside it was a little yellow flower.

"Ohhhh, _gosh..._!" Anna gasped, her grabby hands on full tilt as she received the bag from Elsa. "I knew it, I knew it, I _knew it!_ "

"A flower?" Flynn's confusion was climbing to new heights. "Why's that so imp-"

"It's the killer's _signature_ , Flynn!" Anna paraded the flower around the mercifully empty reception. "Once is nothing, twice is maybe a coincidence, but _three_ times? There's definitely a curl-ation there if you ask me!"

"Uhh, don't you mean _correl_ ation?" Flynn raised a finger.

"Maybe. Probably. Ahh, who cares?!" Anna giggled. "I've got something to work on now!"

"A flower's not really all that much of a clue though, An-" Elsa started, however a rusty whirlwind blew past and stopped her in her tracks.

"But it's still _something_!" Anna grinned manically. "And something is a something I can plot on a map. A something I can look for patterns with! A something I can use to ease the minds of some distraught parents..."

Anna visibly deflated at this revelation. Glancing over the file again, she mumbled. "Ohh, Mrs Forrester, Mr Porter, I'll finally be able to tell you guys... _something._ "

"So... what now?" Elsa asked. "You've got a third hit. I assume this means you'll have somewhere to run with it?"

"Ohh, you bet!" Anna exclaimed. "A third case is a third point on a map! That means I can draw lots of circles around them and see where they intersect and... oh."

"Oh?" Elsa shuffled around towards her. "That doesn't sound good."

"Yeah, it's... less than ideal," Anna smiled meekly. "See, the first victim vanished at the zoo two months ago. She works there, so people noticed real quick. But the second, she disappeared all the way over here in Gerpetto street, a clean twenty miles from the zoo, but only three from where you guys were. It uhh, doesn't make for an easy intersection, I'll tell ya that."

"Well..." Elsa fished for a way to cheer her sister up. "It... does make for a nice triangle?"

"Ooh yeah, you're right! It does!" Anna snuffled out laughter. That was too easy.

"Uh huh..." Elsa grinned. "And with a little circle here, ta-dah! You've got Swiss cheese!"

"Ooh, the Swiss cheese of villainy. I like it." Anna's eyes melted northwards. "Wait a sec. Cheese, good. Villainy, vanilla-ey. Serial killer... _cereal_ ki- Flynn!"

The brunet did a double take. "...yes?"

"I want pop tarts." Anna flashed a toothy grin at him.

"Hey uhh, this is a shooting range, not a restaurant." Flynn folded his arms. "You want pop tarts, go home and make some."

"Ohh, but that's so far aw-" Anna began, however her eyes flashed. "Oh yeah. That's a thing!"

"What's a thing?" Elsa's voice hitched.

"Going home might be tricky," Anna deflated. "My landlady met my fugitive sister..."

"...oh." Elsa crumpled. "I-I'm sorry Anna. I didn't think-"

"But that's okay!" Anna bounced back instantly. "Because we've got a Flynn to protect us! Ain't that right buddy!?"

"Ladies, please," Flynn tried to divorce that thought before it could plant roots. "Just because I own a gun store, does not mean I'm in any position to protect you from the cops. Got it?"

"Pleeeeeaaaaaasse?" Anna sang, and even Elsa was looking hopeful.

"Seriously guys. I don't want the police here," Flynn responded flatly. "They dig too much."

"Well yeah, point taken," Anna shrugged. "But you've got a spare room, right Flynnnn...?"

"Not for fugitives I don't!" Flynn groaned.

"But she's innocent!" Anna protested. "We just need to prove it!"

"Nope," Flynn averted his gaze. "Sorry ladies. Ain't budging on this one."

"Aww....!" Anna huffed. "G'waaaannn!"

"No can do." Flynn replied smoothly, however he was instantly met with two pairs of enormous, pleading eyes.

"You know you wanna, Flynn..." Anna made an attempt at persuading.

"No! Aw c'mon... Nooo!" Flynn was backing into a corner. "C'mon, this isn't fair, you guys...!"

 

* * *

*knock knock!*

Grocery bags were dropped to the ground once again, and Flynn kneaded his forehead. "Why am I doing this...?"

"Because you love us," Anna grinned.

"I must do," Flynn groaned, and started tapping his feet. "Oh c'mon, open up already!"

"Flynn!" A voice shrieked in excitement, and a flurry of blonde hair threw herself at him. "Hi, sweetie! What're you doing home so early?!"

"Just a flying visit, I'm afraid," Flynn smirked. "On account of these."

Flynn gestured over his shoulder. Following his gaze, the energetic blonde spied Anna, looking chipper as always, and-

"Hah?!" She gasped, and withdrew back behind Flynn.

"Hiya Rapunzel!" Anna goofed. "Long time no see!"

But the blonde remained cautious.

"It's okay, its okay... don't worry, alright?"

"Are you... sure?" Rapunzel mumbled, and clambered down from around Flynn. Like a cat, she gently crept closer, even sniffing at her for good measure.

"Err... what's she doing?" Elsa whispered to her sister.

"Trying to remember who the fuck you are!" Anna cried, and shunted the older girl forwards.

"Whooa-!" Elsa stumbled, and almost crashed into the wary blonde. "H...hello Rapunzel. It has been a while, hasn't it?"

Rapunzel's eyes narrowed at the other woman.

"...Elsa?"


	9. Chapter 9

There was a long, pregnant pause, as Rapunzel circled about Elsa like a confused kitten.

She even tilted her head to one side in her attempts to decipher this self-assigned puzzle.

"I-is that really you, Elsa?" The blonde squeaked.

"Ohh, of course it's Elsa! Who else is it gonna be?!" Anna flailed on the sidelines.

"But I... I thought you were dead!" Rapunzel was suddenly teary-eyed. "We hadn't heard from you in years, a-and-"

"Heyyy, hey hey, it's alright..." A comforting hand on the shoulder. "I did disappear for a while. That I'll admit..."

"A while?" Anna raised an eyebrow.

"...okay yeah, a few years." Elsa sighed. "But that's not important! Because I'm back now!"

"And you just expect everything to be fine once you pop back into our lives?" Anna frowned. "We're not that blindly trusting, Elsa. Are we Punzy?"

Anna's face fell, however, when the blonde began dancing spiritedly around Elsa.

"Ohh, I'm so glad you're back!" She giggled, wrapping the both of them up in her masses of hair. "It'll be just like old times! We can watch movies together, and go shopping, and - ooh! Just wait til Mother sees you! She'll be so happy!"

"Are my ears burning?" Another voice echoed from behind the door. Rapunzel flinched out of the way and allowed a middle aged woman passage.

"My my, it sure has been a while," The raven haired woman's eyes were wide with surprise. "Emma, was it?"

"Auntie Gothel, you haven't aged a day," Elsa smiled, offering the older woman a hug. It wasn't long before Rapunzel had jumped in on the action, and soon enough it was just Flynn and Anna feeling weirdly out of place.

"So I would assume this is a long-term visit?" As always, Gothel didn't miss a trick.

"Eheh, was it that obvious?" Elsa's smile did not flicker.

"Well, not only is dear Flynn looking violated," she winked to the brunet. "But you also seem to have about a month's supply of groceries hiding in those bags, dearie. Fresh clothes, too! My my, who did you kill?"

And Elsa clammed up instantly as Rapunzel inhaled a hiccup, Anna almost brought up a lung, and even Flynn looked... shocked.

"Why, I wasn't born yesterday, girls." Gothel's smile was toothy. "Come inside, why don't you? I'm sure there's plenty to explain."

* * *

"S-so yeah, that's about everything..." Elsa shuddered into her tea. She glanced around at her surroundings. Much like Rapunzel herself, everything was viciously bright and colourful. It seemed almost nothing had changed since their last meeting five years ago.

"Oh my, that is quite the problem!" Gothel seemed entirely unfazed by Elsa's damning story. "And you've nowhere to stay right now?"

"Afraid not..." Elsa sighed into her rainbow teacup. The weird, bubbly mixture inside it smelled strangely of honey, which was enough of a distraction to keep her panic at bay.

"Well, that certainly will not do, will it Rapunzel??" Gothel shook her head fondly.

"Ung?!" Rapunzel started. Choking down her mouthful of tea, she spluttered, "n-no mother..."

"And that poor Flynn. To persuade him, you two must be masters of the art!" Gothel let out a haughty laugh.

"Oh, no no..." Anna crunched through cookies. "I just know he can't resist pretty girls with big eyes, that's all. That, and a chance to get outta work, eh Flynn?"

"Oh yes, of course," Flynn dismissed her. "I love sacrificing income and personal safety to help a wanted fugitive hide out at my girlfriend's house."

His gaze remained unchanged as Anna shot a sour look at him. Elsa just stared at her bubbly tea guiltily, while Rapunzel looked reproaching and even Gothel looked pitying.

"...oh, that Flynn! Such a kidder!" Gothel broke the silence. "Don't worry Flynn, everything is safe here. After all, we look after our own, don't we Rapunzel?"

"Y-yes mother..." Rapunzel stammered again, and gave Flynn's hand a tight squeeze.

"S-so you're really okay with us staying?" Anna had to make sure.

"Oh but of course!" Gothel laughed her off. "Like I said, family first. Just as long as this little place isn't too small for you both?"

"Ohh, no no, not at all!" Anna waved that one away. "I mean, you've seen my flat, it's tiny! Fancy pants over here, however..."

"Hunh?" Elsa gave a start. "Oh, c'mon Anna. I don't expect luxury everywhere I go! This place is lovely!"

"Sure thing, Miss _Wonderland_ ," Anna sniggered, prompting a sigh and an averted gaze from her sister.

"Ohh, come now Anna, don't be so nasty," Gothel chided gently. "Why, it's amazing your dear sister isn't in pieces, given her situation."

"Ohh, she knows I'm just teasin'," Anna chuckled. "Ain't that right, Miss Mid-"

"Anna, please..." Elsa interjected.

And Anna did not get to fist bump her sister's shoulder. "...sorry."

The air was once again tense. All three of the young ladies looked uncomfortable, ranging from guilty to awkward. Gothel looked unbothered, however.

"Mhmm," she cleared her throat. "Rapunzel, is the spare bed ready?"

And Rapunzel immediately met, but didn't quite match, her gaze. "A-almost, mother," her smile was strained. "The dryer should be finished any min-"

*beebeebeep!*

*beebeebeep!*

"...minute!" Rapunzel gasped out the remains of her sentence. "I'll just... go get that."

"Thank you, dearie," Gothel beamed. "Flynn dear, I suppose you'll be getting back to work?"

"'Fraid so, Mrs C," Flynn gave a half-hearted smile, as Rapunzel dragged him out of the room.

"Well, bacon won't bring itself now, will it?" The matriarch smiled. "Elsa, I'll assume you're in need of a shower?"

"That obvious, huh?" Elsa rubbed at her left arm.

"Up the stairs, first on the left," Gothel explained. "Take your time, dearie. Supper won't be ready for a while, and Anna dear is helping!"

"Yagh?! I-I am?!" Anna spluttered. "What're we having, fire?!"

"Ohh, nonsense girl," Gothel dismissed. "I may be an old dragon, but I'm sure we can cook something better than fire. Why else would you have all those groceries?"

"Be-because Elsa's a cook!" Anna explained shakily. "Like, a real cook, too! A professional one!"

"Oh? I wasn't aware," Gothel looked surprised for the first time that day. "Well perhaps you can take the strain off your old auntie sometimes, Elsa dear?"

"Happily," the blonde managed a weak smile. With a gentle squeeze to Anna's shoulder, she excused herself from the sitting room, and made her way towards the bathroom. A furtive glance into what looked like a laundry room had her distracted for a moment however, as it appeared Rapunzel had found more fun things to do than fold sheets. All of her limbs were wrapped around Flynn as the two exchanged slow but passionate kisses, and the pitch of Rapunzel's giggling hinted that perhaps Elsa should not be caught watching them both. She tore her eyes from the admittedly cute scene, and padded her way upstairs.

_meanwhile..._

"Soo... what're you doing now, Auntie Gothel?" Anna made an attempt at conversation, all the while staring angrily at a carrot on the chopping board. Her knife was embedded halfway through it, but would shift no farther.

"Ohh, I've found myself a teaching job out at the middle school. The one out on Tinker Street?"

"Uh huh, I know the one," Anna continued wrestling with her carrot. "Wow, I didn't know you could teach too, Aun-"

And a strong hand gripped her wrist, causing her to jump.

"Watch closely, Anna dear," Gothel smiled. "Rest the tip of the blade against the chopping board, and use a _sawing_ motion.

With Gothel's guiding movements, the knife sliced straight through that stubborn bastard carrot with ease.

"Oh wow, you really know what you're doin'," Anna didn't even try to hide how impressed she was.

"Part of being a mother, dear," Gothel smirked. "A mantle you'll no doubt receive in due time, I'm sure,"

"Ohh, no way! There's way too many evils in this world for me to think about stuff like that!" Anna guffawed.

"Oh?" Gothel's eyebrows were raised. "Rapunzel doesn't seem to mind,"

"Well... she's got Flynn!" Anna shrugged off a response. "And Flynn's a great guy! Sure, grumpy sometimes, and he's got that weird thing where he always leaves a bit of food on his plate or whatever, but that's-"

"Just a mere quirk, Anna," Gothel said. "You've got one where you twirl the hair behind your ears. I'm sure you've noticed?"

"I... do?" Anna's eyes trailed left, and indeed she found her index and middle fingers running ringlets through her crimson curls.

"...oh."

"Everyone's got one, Anna. It's what makes us unique." Gothel smiled. "You keep on chopping vegetables for me, okay honey? I'm just going to make sure that Rapunzel's finished folding her sheets."

"Aye cap'n," Anna saluted her auntie as she left the room, with her newly learned technique vastly increasing her chopping speed.

"Do I... look okay?"

"Mm?" Anna span around on instinct, to the voice she knew best. And in the doorway stood her older sister, now looking fresh as a daisy. Her platinum hair was still shining wet, draped across her shoulders and dampening her new flannelette shirt. Over the top of a simple snowman t-shirt, she'd left the top button undone for sake of freedom. Simple, tight black jeans completed the picture.

"Hey, lookin' sharp!" Anna unintentionally pointed her knife at Elsa. "Specially the hair down thing. Really looks good on you!"

"Y-you think so?" Elsa stammered. "I-I just... couldn't do the towel turban thing... that's all."

"Well either way, you're looking great Els," Anna grinned at her. "I can imagine it feels great to be clean again, huh?"

"Ohh, you have no idea," Elsa folded her arms, blocking the snowman's view. "Plus, their shower's great! You should give it a-"

"...did Elsa day something untoward, Anna?"

"Huh?" Anna frowned, only just realising that Gothel had reappeared back in the kitchen.

"Well you must be pointing your knife at her for some reason?" Gothel directed the redhead's vision downwards, where she was indeed pointing the knife at Elsa.

"Oh, ohh, right! My bad!" Anna giggled awkwardly, and resumed chopping.

"My my, what a difference you two make," Gothel shook her head fondly. "And Elsa, I hadn't realised you played for that side of the field?"

"What do-what do you mean?" Elsa backed a step away.

"Ohh, Auntie can tell, Elsa dear," Gothel smiled. "But unlike Rapunzel, yours isn't a phase, is it?"

"Ahaa, 'fraid not," Elsa rubbed the back of her head. "I've known since I was... fifteen?"

"I've known since you were thirteen," Anna spoke to her carrots, prompting a stunned look from Elsa.

"Ohh, it's okay dear!" Gothel pulled Elsa into a hug. "It's pretty normal for you to be the last to know."

"But I... thought I'd hidden it well," Elsa sighed into her chest.

"About as well as a neon sign," Anna chuckled.

"Well that's awkward," Elsa muttered. "I'll just... be somewhere else now, okay? U-unless you need a hand with the cooking?"

"I believe we'll be fine, Elsa," Gothel flashed her a knowing look. "So you feel free to make yourself at home! I'll take plenty advantage of your cooking abilities in the future, don't worry!"

An awkward titter escaped Elsa as she backed out of the room.

 _Was it really that obvious?_ Her mind was racing. _How the hell did Anna know before-_

"Whah?!"

Without looking where she was going, Elsa inadvertently walked into a cloud of blonde hair.

"Ra...punzel?!" Elsa gasped, having saved herself from a fated meeting with the wall at split second notice. "Wh-what're you doing just... lurking out here?"

"Sorry...!" Rapunzel stammered out. "I-I was just on the way back from the spare room, cause I'd made the bed, and now it's ready, a-and I wasn't looking where I was going, a-and... and your room's ready."

"Oh, i-it is?" Elsa started. "Wow, thanks Punzy. That really means a-"

And Rapunzel suddenly wrapped herself around Elsa.

"It's so good to see you again..." She muttered into Elsa's neck.

"You've really missed me that much?" Elsa frowned in surprise.

"Uh-huh," Rapunzel started. "Much as I love Anna, she's just a bit too... _loud_ , sometimes, y'know?"

"I-I thought you liked loud," Elsa said.

"In... small amounts, sure!" Rapunzel smiled. "But you always carried yourself with a quiet kinda dignity, and I always looked up to that, y'know? After all, you two are the only family I've got..."

"Oh? Doesn't Flynn have any family?" Elsa queried.

"Nah, he never knew his parents," Rapunzel waved that thought away. "Weird, huh? Between the four of us, there's only one parent."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, that is weird," Elsa's eyes widened. "A-anyway, I'm sure you've got other things to do than talk to boring old me, right?"

"You, boring?" Rapunzel scoffed. "C'mon Elsa, you've been to _Paris_. You're like the least boring person I know!"

"Either way," Elsa smiled. And then yawned. "I think I could... _really_ use a nap, so d'you mind if I-"

"Oh, of course!" Rapunzel smiled. "One more hug!"

Before Elsa could reach, the blonde was once again squeezing her tight.

"Sleep well, okay?" She hummed into her cousin's ear. "By the sounds of it, Dinner'll be a while."

"I will," Elsa smiled, as Anna's cursing voice echoed down the hallway.

Rapunzel excused herself from Elsa's company with a twirl of her long, long hair, leaving Elsa to her own devices.

With a sigh and a rub of the eyes, Elsa entered into her temporary room, and fell backwards onto the bed. Soft, spongy mattress caressed her aching joints for the first time in days, and Elsa barely had time to register the purple spiral on the ceiling before exhaustion took her...


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey, Elsa."

Al dente was not the word. If these carrots were any tougher, Elsa was going to need to see an al dent _ist_.

"Elsa, you there?"

The blonde grimaced internally. It seemed as though Anna's sole contribution to today's dinner wasn't exactly successful.

"Yo, earth to Elsa!"

Another painful crack. Was that carrot or tooth that just shattered?

"Elsa!"

Strong hands visibly shook Elsa out of her daydream. "Hunh? Wha?"

"It lives!" Anna cried. "Gods Elsa, where'd you go?"

"S... sorry," Elsa muttered. "I guess I'm still kinda half asleep."

She winced as another carrot fractured in her mouth.

"I was just curious about your plans, dear?" Gothel picked up from Anna. "You obviously can't just sit here and daydream now, can you? And as much as I'd love to have a professional chef sharing cooking duties with us, it's only so long before the police will be here looking for you. Also how is the food, dear?"

"Oh!" Elsa was thrown a curveball there. "I umm, ahem!" She cleared her throat. "Y-you've done a great job with the beef. Red wine reduction, and... is that tarragon?"

Gothel simply smirked and nodded, while Anna and Rapunzel looked stunned.

"Really interesting choice," Elsa held her fork between her lips. "The mash potato is really creamy too, and you've got everything seasoned perfectly. I'm impressed! Oh, and good work with the carrots, Anna."

The redhead's gawp dissolved into a tiny smile, followed by a secret dance of self-appreciation.

"Hahah, see Rapunzel? Your dear mumsie still knows what she's doing."

"Y-yes, mother," Rapunzel offered a polite smile. "But anyway, how long are you staying, Elsa? Is it long?"

"Well..." Elsa was brought back on track. "It's true we can't stay _too_ long. It's only a matter of time before the manhunt begins. But they'll hit your place first I'm sure, Anna, so we've got a couple days at least, and-"

"And when they find nothin' at mine, they'll either see your car parked _right outside the damn house_ ," Anna grit her teeth a little. "Or my landlady'll spill every last word. So we haven't got as much time as you'd think, Elsa."

"You've got a point there..." Elsa pondered. "And what do we do after that? I can't exactly stroll back into work a wanted fugitive."

"Well, we could try and prove your innocence?" Anna shrugged off a suggestion.

Both Elsa and Gothel gave the redhead an identical stare.

"Prove?" Gothel didn't sound convinced. "My, that sounds like a risky wager Anna. How are you so sure you can _prove_ her innocence?"

"Well, we just... follow the clues!" Anna grinned awkwardly. "We haven't exactly got much to go on, but it's enough to investigate?"

"Grainy CCTV footage?" Gothel scoffed just a little. "Forgive me Anna, but that's a bit of a shot in the dark, isn't it?"

"Well no, there's... other things." Anna muttered to herself.

"Well that still has its problems," Elsa kneaded her forehead. "I'm a fugitive, and you're already bordering on accomplice, Anna. You sure you wanna break the law here?"

"If it proves your innocence, then yes." Anna answered immediately.

"B-but we've nowhere to go!" Elsa was quick to cover up her gratitude. "Barely any money, we can only take what we can carry, and we're chasing, let's face it, flowers!"

Gothel choked. "Fl-flowers?"

"Metaphorical flowers!" Anna spluttered, with a lot of arm waving and panic.

"Flowers?" Rapunzel echoed. "Oh, reminds me! We've got hyacinths in stock at the store, mother! Did you want me to get you some? They're purple!"

"I... yes, I'd like that Rapunzel dear," Gothel recovered. "After all, the poor cosmos are on their last legs."

"But in any case!" She suddenly had control of the room once again. "I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with you two playing detective. What if you get hurt?"

"Ohh, we're _pretty good_ at protecting ourselves, auntie Gothel," Anna chuckled. "Y'know, self defence training and all that."

"Ohh..." Gothel suppressed herself. "But I just don't feel right about this, Anna. For all you know, this could only get worse. And you'll hardly prove Elsa's innocence by returning to the crime scene now, will you?"

And two sisters exchanged awkward glances with their cousin and aunt.

"You can't just do nothing, however. That I do agree with," Gothel mused. "Otherwise you might as well just give yourself up, am I right?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Anna chortled into her food. "But we can't let-"

*BANG BANG BANG!*

"Come on out and give yourself up!"

Elsa's fork slipped from her hand.

"...well that was quick." Anna deadpanned.

"Oh, no no nooo...!" Elsa began immediately panicking. "How did they find me here already?!"

"They're moving faster than we thought, that's all, Elsa," Gothel was calm and collected. "I can buy you some time, okay?"

"Please!" Elsa gasped, and was shuffled out of the room by both Anna and Rapunzel.

"Buy us some time?!" Elsa continued fretting. "That's what, five minutes tops?!"

"Ohh, you'd be surprised how long mother can stall," Rapunzel smirked. "But anyway, not important! You guys need a plan, and fast."

"Right!" Elsa exclaimed. Her mind, however, drew an instant blank.

How was she supposed to think up a genius plan with all this pressure and panic? Her head already swimming, she rubbed at her temples. _C'mon Elsa, focus now..._

Anna muttered something unintelligible to Rapunzel, who, to Anna's great surprise, nodded. She then led the redhead, who dragged her sister, through the kitchen and into a side room Elsa never knew of.

A shave and a haircut on the back wall had it spinning around, and revealing a secret passage?!

"...who built this house?" Anna gasped at this new discovery.

"Mother doesn't even know," Rapunzel shrugged. "But hey, you couldn't have picked a better house to escape from. You won't get far on foot, though. Any plans there?"

"Umm..." Anna faltered.

"Oh Rapunzel!!" Gothel's boots clicked across the stone floor of the kitchen. "Be a dear and help with this tea, would you sweetie?"

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow. _'Now? Right now??'_ she mouthed to her two cousins.

"Oh, and I was wondering if you could invite dear Flynn over tonight?" Gothel's voice echoed over the boiling of a kettle. "After all, I have a couple of errands for him!"

And the lightbulb clicked.

"Okay mother! I'll call him right now!" Rapunzel grinned enormously. A purple glitzy phone was extracted from her dress pocket, and flipped open.

"Hey there, that you Flynn?" Her voice was hushed. "Mother and I need a BIG favour. Meet us at the back entrance in ten minutes okay?"

"Uh-huh? Alright, love you. No, I love YOU more!"

And then her phone was suddenly folded shut. With a humongous toothy smile, she said "He'll be here in no time."

* * *

 

"No."

A heavy eyed Flynn stared the three young women down.

"...oh," Rapunzel shared a crestfallen expression. "Well that's awkward..."

"Sorry ladies, ain't happening," Flynn folded his arms. "Much as I'd love to help, I can't give away my livelihood. How am I gonna provide for my girl?"

Rapunzel visibly melted at his words; thankfully Elsa had more control than that.

"Whoa whoa, I'm not asking you to _give_. I'll make it worth your time, don't worry about that!" She countered. "I just... need to borrow, for-for a while. Until I prove my innocence."

"Aw c'mon..." Flynn groaned. "I could risk jail time for this...?"

"Not if you say we forced you!" Anna interjected. "They can't put a hostage in jail!"

"Oh, so you wanna add perjury to your rap sheet?" Flynn grimaced. "First murder, then larceny, now-"

He stopped, however, when his gaze met Rapunzel's. There was no anger there. Only sadness.

"Ohh, man..." Flynn dragged a hand across his face. "Okay, I'm in! Just promise me you won't do anything stupid, alright?"

"You have my word." Elsa's voice was unwavering, all the while Gothel could be heard 'entertaining' upstairs;

_"And then the skeleton said 'Because I've got no BODY to go with!'"_

Floor shaking laughter erupted from the sitting room, and Elsa reached into her purse. "Here. Take this. Anything you want, this'll pay for it."

Flynn was handed a gleaming silver credit card, and his knees began to quake at the mere sight of it. "Oh, my _gods!_ " His eyes were ready to drop out of their sockets. "How in the world can you afford a Wishing Star?!"

"I-it's... a well paid job," Elsa grit her teeth, and glanced away. "ANYway! Not important! You remember the plan?"

"Go across town, buy something _expensive_ with this, meet you at the shooting range." Flynn recited instructions for the umpteenth time, it seemed.

"Great." Elsa managed a weak smile. "I umm..." She extended a hand, and grabbed Flynn's with it, shaking it vigorously. "I just wanna say that I'm really grateful you're on my side."

"Yeah, well you guys are family. Even if I only met you like yesterday," Flynn shrugged. "I'm happy to help, I just... wish it didn't carry such risks, y'know?"

"Well, thanks all the same." Elsa said. "Okay, we ready Anna?"

"Pretty much?" The redhead shrugged.

 _"Oh, okay then, just one more joke!"_ Gothel made sure her voice was loud enough. _"And then you can get on with your search. I think I've taken up enough of your time!"_

 _"Well yeah, if I didn't know better,"_ the heavy set voice boomed back. _"I'd say you were intentionally stallin' us, so that a fugitive at her accomplices could escape without our notice!"_

 _"Ohh, you..."_ Gothel laughed playfully. Four young adults gulped.

"Okay then, to action!" Elsa whispered. Flynn nodded, and silently slipped through the back door. A quick wade through bushes had him back in his car, and the machine barely ate anything as he drove off quietly. Elsa and Anna simply exchanged a look, and then shared it with Rapunzel.

"I guess I'm not staying as long as I thought," Elsa muttered bashfully.

"Ohh, that's okay..." Rapunzel half chuckled, half sobbed, as she pulled the both of them into a huge hug. "Just stay safe, visit as much as you can, and don't get dead, okay?"

"...okay." Both sisters replied in union.

"Last hug!" Rapunzel squashed them both again, before slipping something into Anna's hands. "Here. Just in case."

"Oh, I can't!" Anna exclaimed. "Your mom needs this!"

"Right now, you need it more," Rapunzel furiously dabbed at her eyes. "Mother will understand, don't you worry. Now you get out there and prove your innocence, got it Elsa?!"

"I will," The elder blonde smiled, and both sisters turned tail. The back door clicked shut, and suddenly the their world just got a whole lot bigger.

"Right. Remember the plan?" Elsa reiterated.

"Uh huh," Anna muttered. "I'm just a bit confused..."

"About what?"

"What the hell we're supposed to do with this?"

"Ohh, it's better than nothing. It'll come in useful for something, I'm sure."

"If you say so..." Anna frowned, and the two sisters pushed their way through the bushes, down the back paths.

* * *

"Okay, okay... Okay okay," Elsa attempted to stay calm as she and her sister rose from behind a conveniently placed shrub. "O-okay, we can do this, we can do this. What if we can't do this?!"

"A lotta years in jail," Anna muttered.

Both peered through their safety shrub. Anna's flat was in clear sight, however there were _several_ armed officers guarding the premises.

And it was raining.

"How're we gonna get past all those guys?!" Elsa whisper-panicked to Anna.

"The plan, Elsa. Remember the plan."

"Yeah, but-"

" _trust_ the plan, Elsa!"

"Okay, trust the plan." Elsa gulped.

And two sisters sat crouched in awkward silence. Anna screeched internally when a freezing droplet of rain splashed down the back of her neck, and Elsa had half a bird's nest in her hair, but all in all, the plan was going well so far.

All they needed to do right now, was trust in Flynn.

"...so. Any news?" One cop asked of another.

"Not a," the second responded. "No sign of her since the incident. But she can't hide forever. Ya gotta eat sometime..."

"Well it says here lovergirl made a huge withdrawal on the night," the first poked at the second's touchscreen. "Ain't that worth mentioning?"

"Four words! Credit card trackin'. The momen' she uses it again, we'll be on her like a-"

And the officer gasped as his phone began vibrating. "OH! We got something!"

Several more officers crowded around them like seagulls in pursuit of food, and the second officer cried, "Bear Necessities Hardware! Let's go!"

_Bear Necessities Hardware? Just what has he bought?_

Elsa grimaced.

But despite everything, the cornucopia of cops filtered away from Anna's flat and into several vehicles, before speeding away in a flurry of red and blue. One sole guard remained.

"Go the plan!" Anna cried, with a fist in the air.

"Anna! Shhhh...!" Elsa shushed her. "We're not in the clear yet!"

"Oh. Right!" Anna chuckled. "How're we gonna take care of him?"

The tall, muscular guard stood imperviously at the foot of the driveway, his arms folded and expression narcissistic.

"Iunno?" Elsa shrugged. "I'll try the thing. You get the house open."

Two sisters nodded to each other, and took different paths. Anna crept up towards the house, while Elsa silently approached the guard. The wet ground wasn't helping her approach. His animated self-congratulating however, was.

"Hah! NOBODY guards a building like Gast-

-unh?!"

A loud metallic thud smashed into the guard's head, and he fell like a sack of potatoes.

"Oh, my gods!" Elsa gasped at the 'weapon' Rapunzel had given them. "That was incredible!"

With a grin and a flourish, Elsa spun Rapunzel's 'weapon' - a frying pan - once in the air.

"Okay, we're good to go!" Anna met up with her, her arms full of 'supplies'.

* * *

"So, you're good to go?" Flynn queried.

"I uh, think so," Elsa averted her gaze. _Just how many lives have I turned upside down in the past few days...?_

"Yeah, we're good!" Anna gestured to her supplies, which varied from lockpicks to boxes of bullets, her big file from inside Flynn's shooting range, and what looked suspiciously like a plush doll. Flynn sighed, and pulled out of his pocket, a set of keys. His face greyed almost immediately as he removed a couple of keys from the chain, and held it at arm's length.

"On the pile, on the pile..." Anna practically vibrated with excitement. That fervour dissolved almost instantly however, when the keys fell into her sister's hands.

"Hunh? What gives, Flynn?"

"You really think I'm gonna let you drive, Ginger?" He found the strength for one last smirk. "Your hands are full for starters, I'm pretty sure you don't have the license for something more powerful than a toaster, and... I trust her more."

"Trust her mor- trust her MORE?!" Anna boiled. "You've known her for like a day and a half!"

"If she can trust me with her credit card," Flynn bounced his eyebrows. "Then I can trust her with my car."

"And I promise, you'll get it back safe and sound." Elsa's eyes were gleaming. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve any of this.

"Alright blondie, I'll hold ya to it." Flynn nodded. "You want your card back? Cause if not I'll-"

"Nah, keep it with you," Elsa smiled. "Give the cops the runaround once a week or so."

"Ohh, ho ho, good plan," Flynn winked. "I'm gonna buy somethin' ridiculous."

"Oh, and a chainsaw isn't?" Anna frowned.

"Nope. Completely necessary." Flynn gave the large box at his feet a tap. "Anyway, get outta here already. You two're terrible fugitives."

"Alright, alright..." Elsa couldn't hold in her smile.  And her fingers ran across the glorious purple finish. Keys slotted into the lock, and the driver-side door folded open, into a perfect leather interior.

Elsa flexed her fingers along the steering wheel, as Anna stomped into the passenger's seat, and threw her supplies behind her.

"So..." Elsa grinned. "Where to?"

"Anywhere but here..." Anna groaned at the window.

"Alright then."

Elsa tweaked the rear view mirror, to see a despondent looking Flynn staring at the back of them.

 

"Let's go catch that horizon."

 

With her foot on the pedal, Elsa let her monster growl as she brought it to life. Next thing they knew, the two sisters were gone...


	11. Chapter 11

"So uhh... question."

Elsa shifted up a gear. "Yeah?"

"Where are we going?"

There was a half second of wheelspin as Elsa quickly recovered. "A-anywhere I guess? Got any suggestions?"

"Well no, I, thought you'd decided on somewhere," Anna took note.

"Ermm..." Elsa was hesitant. "Well... does that big file of yours have any directions? Hints, even?"

"It's a file, not a map Elsa." Anna rolled her eyes.

"Well why do you have so many pages?" Elsa stole a quick glance. "There can't be _that many_ victims, c-can there?"

"Pff. Not for the Flower case, maybe," Anna held back derision. "But you act as if that's the only case I've got."

"Wait," Elsa dragged the car to a stop at the roadside. "You're telling me that ALL of these are separate cases?!"

"Well yeah?" Anna shrugged. "Don't look so shocked, you remember how busy mom and dad were with this job."

Elsa's eyes glazed over.

_"I'm sorry sweetie, but we can't stay long," Agnarr held his daughter's hands tight. "People are depending on us to stop a sea witch, after all..."_

_"B-but daddy...!" A fourteen year old Elsa protested. "Daddy, it's almost Christ-"_

_"I'm sorry, sweetie." Agnarr held her to his chest. "But I'm afraid it can't wait. Once this case is over, we'll be a family for a while. All four of us. Okay Elsa?"_

_"-Elsa,"_

_"-Elsa..."_

"Elsa?"

"Elsa!"

"Nuh?!" The blonde started. "W-what the...?"

"You spacing out again, Els?" Anna's voice cut through her panic. Two strong hands held onto hers, and her father's likeness had dissolved into that of her sister's instead.

"S-s... sorry, Anna," The blonde's breath hitched under the pressure of a manic heartbeat. "I um, got sidetracked there."

"I'll say," Anna smirked. "Must've been a good ten minutes."

"Ten... ten minutes?" Elsa's eyes widened. "Anna, why didn't you-"

"I tried." Anna interjected. "You name it, I tried it. Anyway, water under the bridge now. You wanted to check some of these files, right?"

Only now did Elsa notice the small stack of files in her sister's lap. "...oh."

"Yup!" Anna smiled. "Now, aside from the Flower case, which is our main I reckon," she flicked through pages, "I grabbed a few more at random, just for flavour. Some of the newer cases include reports of a 'Headless Horseman' out west," she pointed north, "A mysterious creature sighting back in the city centre. We should probably avoid that one for a bit... A weird spike in drowning surfers on the east coast, and a rash of killings out in Mortimer Valley. Police think it's just some wacko, but I think it might be my kinda work. So we're not gonna be stuck for things to do, huh?!"

"Wow..." Elsa hardly dared breathe. "I-I never knew there was this much crime happening around us. And you do this all by yourself?"

"Yup," Anna smirked. "S'why there's so many cases. Course, we can decide on that later. Til then, there's a stop I wanna make first."

"Hm?" Elsa suddenly remembered that she was behind a steering wheel.

"Yeah, remember how I said there were two other victims in the Flower case that we know of?" Anna held up the first file again. "I think it's time to pay one of them a visit." 

* * *

 

"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Mrs Forrester," Anna kept her voice gentle and her smile soft as she and Elsa sat awkwardly in an admittedly spacious lounge. Their charge, a kindly looking plump lady with auburn hair, continued to sob into a handkerchief.

"Oh-h, it's... it's a pleasure," she half-smiled. "Anything that brings my little Penny closer to justice," she gave the pure white dog in her lap a rather aggressive scratch.

"I um... I'm sorry for your loss," Elsa forced a smile.

The mother simply returned a damaged one.

"Okay... now I know this is hard," Anna urged gently. "B-but could you go over the events of the night in question? A-again, I know, but we've got new information, and the more we know, the better chance we have of catching someone. So if you wouldn't mind... please?"

Mrs Forrester exchanged a withered sigh with both sisters. "A-alright."

Her dog received another bout of aggressive stroking, and Mrs Forrester took in a deep breath.

"Okay... it was three weeks ago," she began. "My little Penny was forward to her birthday that was coming up soon. It's not easy, bein' a single parent, but you try your best, don't you?"

She picked up another handkerchief from the box on the table, and blew her nose into it loudly.

"S-sorry..." she sniffled, settling her dog once again with a few more tickles. "It's just... As a parent, you never expect to outlive your child, you know? You expect to see them grow up, get married, have kids of their own... my Penny didn't have those. That nasty purple spiral on the ceiling made sure of that..."

"Wait, purple spiral?" Elsa suddenly took interest. "Did-did it just pop up, without warning?"

"I... believe so?" Mrs Forrester dabbed at her cheeks with the hanky. "Penny wasn't feeling well, so she'd stuck to her bedroom when it all happened. I only caught the uh, the, umm... _end._ "

"Jasmine... was the same," Elsa stuttered out a smile. "She and I were talking happily and discussing things, right until I left to use the bathroom. In the two minutes I was gone, she... she left."

"Oh gosh, so sudden?" Mrs Forrester muffled through her hanky.

Elsa nodded slowly. "There was... there was nothing I could do. I still remember it like it happened five minutes ago. A-all I could feel was dread, an-and it was so _cold_ too. But I'll never forget the look in her eyes..."

"What look, honey?" Mrs Forrester asked.

"They were just... black. Like, solid, empty, _black._ " Elsa barely spoke above a whisper. "I felt like, e-every mistake I'd ever made, was judging me, there and then. A-and I don't want to go through that again. _No one_ deserves that..."

Elsa paused, to let out the tiniest sniffle. "S-so don't you worry, okay?! Me and my sister, we're gonna find whatever sleazebag did this to your Penny, and we're gonna make them pay. O-o-okay?! That's a promise!"

"Oh, you precious thing!" Mrs Forrester sobbed, pulling Elsa into a hug. "Now you listen here, okay? We'll be alright. We'll get through this. _You'll_ get through this. We keep our heads held high, and they can't win. You hear me sweetie?"

"Y-yeah!" Elsa sniffled into the woman's shoulder.

"What's your name, hun?" Mrs Forrester asked.

"El-s-sa."

"Why, thank you, Elsa." Mrs Forrester smiled, and rubbed the blonde's back. "Thank you for telling me your story. Made me feel a little better."

"R-really?" Elsa spluttered.

"Really really," the older woman smiled warmly. "To know that there's someone else out there you can confide in... It's a crutch, isn't it?"

"H-hey yeah, I guess it is." Elsa frowned, as if only just realising. "Hey, wait a minute. Confide...

"...Coffee!"

Suddenly, Elsa jumped from the couch as if struck by lightning. "When-when it was all happening, I remember a distinct smell of coffee! D-did you?!"

"Coffee...?" Mrs Forrester rubbed her forehead. "...?! Yes! I remember it now! There was _definitely_ a coffee smell in the air after it all... happened..."

"R-really?!" Anna spluttered. Immediately she scrambled for writing materials, "that's another clue, you two!"

"...really?" Both women shot her a confused look. "What's it mean?"

"Hell if I know," Anna exclaimed, scribbling furiously on the tissue she'd 'borrowed'. "But it's another connection! Maybe the perp is a coffee drinker or something, but it means _something!_ That means we've got more to go on!"

The redhead stood up from the couch, and offered Mrs Forrester a polite bow. "Uh umm, thank you for your time, Mrs Forrester. We're that much closer to making a break in this case now."

"It's the least I could do," Mrs Forrester smiled. "Now you just... do your best, got it?"

"Ohoo, we will!" Anna sang down the hallway, on the way back to the car.

Mrs Forrester cheerfully waved the two sisters off as they sidled back into the purple mustang.

"More clues, more clues, na-na na-na, na-nah~" An ecstatic Anna trilled. And even Elsa smiled.

"Alright ginger, cool it," Elsa smirked. "Where to next? The zoo?"

"Zoo?" Anna frowned. "Nooo, we can't go to the zoo right now! We'll be seen for sure! Gotta wait til the heat dies down!"

"...good point," Elsa conceded. "So where then?"

"Well, we've got a billion open cases?" Anna gestured to the back seats. "How 'bout you pick one?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. This be an update.
> 
> Welcome.to the interactive part of this fic, where YOU readers get to choose the case the sisters take!
> 
> The choices are:
> 
> 1\. The 'headless horseman' sightings.
> 
> 2\. The mysterious creature attacks.
> 
> 3\. The case of the drowned surfers.
> 
> Or 4. The rash of bizarre killings in Mortimer Valley.
> 
> Make your choice by PM, if you wish. :D


	12. Chapter 12

The four files Anna held in her hands... they were all the same, weren't they? Just folders, full of pictures, about people, and some mystical creature thing, maybe a place...

 

So what did it matter? 

 

"Err, that one?"

Anna snorted. "You just picked randomly, didn't you?"

"W-well, a little?" Elsa flailed out a response. Was it that obvious? "I mean, a case is a case, isn't it?"

"That's... one way to look at it," Anna placed the other three folders on their back seat once again. "But don't just dismiss them please, okay Els? These are important to me."

Anna flipped open the folder, and absorbed the details on the first few pages, with nods of acknowledgement and 'mhmm's and everything.

"Okay, so it's the pretty interesting  you picked this one," Anna carefully realigned the contents of her folder. "Headless Horseman attacks. Any reason why?"

Elsa shrugged. "Nope?"

"Thought not..." Anna's spirit deflated slightly. "Well, either way, all the victims so far have been from the same area, which is beyond suspicious when you realise that it's a public place. And what's worse, the uhh... attacks?"

"Unpleasant?" Elsa surmised.

"Y-yeah, and then some," Anna grimaced. "This headless horseman guy has mutilated and then decapitated his victims. Missing limbs, exposed guts, yeah the whole gruesome deal. So far we've had three deaths and one close call, and the only link I can find is that they all went to a the same middle school."

"Middle school?" Elsa's eyebrows woven together.

"Yup, middle school," Anna smirked. "I don't need to tell you the weird coincidence, do I?"

"Auntie Gothel works there?"

"Got it in one!" Anna's folder slapped shut. "So yeah, let's head that way, and-"

"-waiiit, wait wait wait," Elsa flail-stalled her sister. "We can't just go check the place out! I'm still wanted, remember?!"

"Ohh yeah..." A coquettish smile touched on Anna's face. "Well, the I guess we'll just have to get creative huh?"

"Crea..." Elsa began, however she barely had time to even react before a beanie hat was squashed down on her head.

"There! That'll do it!"

"...a hat?" Elsa balked, shifting the woolly number so that she could actually see out of it. "Anna, do you really think a hat will fool the pol-oh gods it stinks..."

"Well I got a fake moustache if you want that too?" Anna twirled an indistinct mound of fluff between her thumb and index finger. "Relax, okay? Just tuck your hair in, and you'll be fine! You're practically dressed as a guy anyway!"

"Anna."

"Oh c'mon, where's the lie Elsa?" Anna stoked the fire. "Now, if we can get in and out of that school without anyone recognising you, I'd say that's a good enough disguise, wouldn't you?"

"Meaning we'd be able to continue with the main case?"

"Well... maybe?"

Elsa massaged her forehead, "...fine, I'll try it."

"Atta girl!" Anna punched her sister's shoulder with an audible *smack!*, followed by a yelp of pain from said sister.

"Dammit Anna! That hurt!"

"Ohh, ya big wuss. It wasn't that bad!"

"Let's just get to the damn school already."

Elsa floored the gas pedal, and the mustang roared back into life once again as it screeched down the highway.

<><>

"Welp, here we are, Ashes Middle School," Anna announced wih a twirl.

"Thank you, exposition fairy." Elsa clicked the car door shut, and pocketed her keys.

"Well, it's true?" Anna beckoned, "anyway, let's get inside already. I know the Principal."

"It seems you know everyone, Anna." Elsa cast an eye over the tired looking establishment. Was the name because of the colouring? Did the original school burn down...? Was it built on a burial ground??

Elsa really hoped that last one wasn't true. Either way though, he school just lacked that certain lustre that schools always seemed to have, with its pewter grey everything and severe abarbecue of heart. Even the weather seemed increasingly miserable as the two sisters closed in on it, escalating from mere darkened skies into heavy rainfall in just moments.

"Oh, cause that's not ominous or anything!" Anna tugged her jacket over her head. "C'mon Els, quick!"

Two sisters were heard squealing as they splashed through the puddles towards the school's main entrance.

Their drippy arrival didn't go unnoticed either.

"And who, may I ask," a high pitched voice spoke out of nowhere. "Are you two?"

"Oh?!" Anna gave a start. "O-oh, hello there! We're just visitors here to see the principal, Mister...?"

"Hatter." A misproportioned balding guy answered. Tipping his namesake with a bow, he let out a chuckle for seemingly no reason. "May I request a reason for your visit!"

"Hmm?" Anna queried. "You don't... look like a receptionist?"

"I can offer ya tea if you'd like?" Hatter cracked a grin. 

"Umm... no thanks," Elsa shot him down. "We'd just really rather see the principal please, soon as possible."

"Well, okay..." Hatter deflated, and yet still seemed jovial about it somehow. "You two look like you can be trusted! Her room is down the hall and to the left, but you'll have to knock knock with a shave and a haircut, otherwise she won't answer!"

Both sisters did a double take to look back at Hatter, who without moving had acquired a cup of tea from seemingly nowhere.

"Alll...righty?" Anna frowned. "Thanks for your... help."

"Not a problem!" Hatter waved the pair of them away, spilling tea everywhere.

"Didn't that seem a bit suspicious to you?" Elsa hissed to her sister as they padded down carpeted but barren hallways. No trophies, no class photos, no people even! What was with this place?

"Ehh, coulda just been a weirdo," Anna shrugged. "You get all sorts here."

"Well yeah, but we haven't seen a single student yet, but that Hatter guy knew exactly where to find us?"

"Must've juuust, seen us coming!" Anna was surprisingly un-suspicious of it all, as the two descended upon an important looking door. Only a simple oak in design, however the golden plaque had Anna unnerved.

"Ugh," she shuddered. "Name still gives me the heebies."

"Huh?" Elsa began. "Isn't that the name of your landlady?"

"Don't remind me," Anna tapped upon the door,

*knock knock, na-knock knock!*

And an audible sigh left the room.

"...come in."

Two sisters exchanged a bewildered look before Anna took the plunge, and carefully twisted the brass handle. Despite her efforts, it squeaked, groaned, and squeaked again, as if determined to alert everyone of her presence.

"Now you repeat what I just said, Lampwick," a commanding-yet-stressed-yet-still-somehow-friendly woman's voice escaped the room. "I want to know that you've been listening."

"...fine," A boisterous young man sighed. "I won't show mah body to anyone, because they don't wanna see it."

"That's a good boy," The woman - presumably the principal? - audibly smiled. "Now you go run along back to class. It's almost recess."

"Well golly!" This Lampwick boy cried gleefully, "thank ya Ms Tremaine!"

A hand gripped at the same brass door handle, and the two sisters found themselves exposed to a brown haired, rather capricious individual.

"Well hiya toots," he didn't miss a beat, winking at Anna as he swaggered past. Anna simply swallowed down a cringe.

"...oh. Hello there?" Miss Tremaine spoke, surprise in her voice.

"Hiya Cindy! How're you?" Anna practically flourished into the room, with Elsa quietly in tow.

"...Annabelle, correct?" 'Cindy' was hesitant. "You rent from my... mother?"

"Yes indeedy!" Anna took a seat opposite the principal, "oh, and this is my sister Elsa!"

"Don't believe I've had the pleasure?" Cindy offered a warm hand. "Cinderella Tremaine, principal of Ashes Middle School. How can I help?"

"You seemed surprised to see us?" Elsa returned the gesture.

"Pleasantly surprised, don't worry!" Cinderella offered a reassuring smile. "Given the knock, I thought you were Mr Hatter. He always uses that knock..."

"He told us you wouldn't answer unless we did," Anna was already playing with the doodads on Cinderella's desk.

"Oh he did, did he?" Her voice was suddenly stern. "I'll have to have words with him later. But that's later. How can I help you two ladies?"

Elsa and Anna looked to each other for a moment. There wasn't any point in beating about the bush, was there?

"Alright, I'll just be upfront about it all," Anna's voice dropped a notch. "We're here about the attacks."

Serious mode? Without being coerced into it? Who was she, and what has she done with Anna?

"At... attacks?" Cinderella naturally seemed wary. She was met with a raised eyebrow from Anna.

"Oh c'mon Cindy, you know exactly what I mean," Anna didn't even attempt a joke.

"...very well," Cinderella conceded.  "What do you want to know?"

"Everything you do," Anna was once again straight to the point. "The girl who survived... Wendy, was it?"

"Y-yes, that's correct," Cinderella had begun wringing her hands. "What about her?"

"We'd like to talk to her, and anyone else who might know anything, if that's okay with you?" Anna pressed.

"W-well, I suppose..." Cinderella wasn't convinced. "Do you have any credentials? Something to prove to me you're not just a pair of crazies who get off on weird, unsolvable cases?"

Anna sighed. "Look, I'll level with ya Cindy. We know the cops are getting nowhere with this case. We know you're scared, and we know we can help. Now, I don't have any papers or ID cards that prove I'm not crazy, none of that crap. But what I do have is a desire to stop this rat bastard from hurting any more of your kids. Now please, can you let me help you?"

"...you promise you'll solve the case?" Cinderella grimaced.

"To the best of our ability," Anna smirked.

"Alright, fine..." Cindy relented. "Just, keep it on the down low, okay? I don't want this spreading any further than it has already."

"You have my word," A hand curled into a fist beneath the desk. "C'mon Elsa! Time to go to work!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. An update at last. More cameos and a lot more talking, but the wheels are turning now. In proper supernatural style, there'll be investigations, gun fights, bad guys, gore, etc. You name the character, odds are I've got a cameo planned for them. ;)
> 
> Thanks for sticking around, people.


	13. Chapter 13

There was a wary, almost nauseous look about Cinderella's complexion as she ventured into a locked draw on her desk, and retrieved a thin file from it.

She took another deep breath as the folder creaked open, revealing several photos and notes. The smorgasbord of paper clippings and note scribbles on napkins was strangely amateurish, and Anna couldn't help but raise an intrigued eyebrow at it all.

"Now, I'm certainly no private detective..." Cindy paged through the file. "But I am principal of this school. And if there's anyone that parents will mindlessly give away information to, it's their kid's principal. It's not much," she swivelled the file around so that the sisters could see it. "But it should give you a head start. Now, Wendy Darling is still in hospital, the poor dear, but some of the other students in her exchange group,"

"Exchange group?" Anna asked.

"Mm, we bring over several exchange students from Camelot every year, and send over a similar amount for three months. Poor Wendy must have been traumatised, arriving in a new country only to..."

 

Her voice dissolved into a sniffle, and both sisters shared an awkward glance as Cinderella very obviously wiped her eyes from behind one gloved hand.

"A-anyway!" She suddenly perked back up again. "As... as long as you don't upset any of my students," the warning voice, "You're free to ask about. Recess is just starting, so the students will be more at ease. Want me to show you to the teachers' lounge?"

"That would be a great help, thanks," Anna smiled, and both sisters rose from their seats to follow after Cinderella, who steamed down hallways at 'business speed'. Both sisters had to jog, even run, as classrooms, bathrooms and the cafeteria were all pointed out and haphazardly explained, but yet again there was barely a student to be seen as the trio covered what must have been the entire length of the school property.

"Okay, on your right you'll find Mr Hatter's class. Home room for class 9B, and his subject is Geography. And straight ahead is the teachers' lounge. Get all that?"

Cinderella glanced back, to find both sisters still jogging after her.

"Most of it!" Anna gasped, collapsing against a wall to get her breath back. "This school is... super weirdly designed. Why're your office, and the teachers'... lounge... at opposite ends?!"

"Well, for one, it's a bigger encouragement to work hard, getting all that exercise between rooms," Cindy adjusted the cuffs on her suit. "And it means that if a teacher is going to visit me all the way from over here, I know it's something that's actually important, rather than 'a quick favour'." Her voice drew out into a groan.

"No wonder you can walk so fast," Elsa was still short on breath. "Doing that everyday..."

"Well, if we can't work hard ourselves, how can we motivate lazy teenagers to do it?" A wry smile touched at Cindy's lips. "Anyway, I will leave you both to it, and as long as you remember our little agreement, just stay as long as you need. Okay?"

"G-got it!" Elsa winced. The damn beany hat was still itchy...

Cinderella bid them both farewell, and then stormed back down the hallway again at top speed. 

"...right!" Anna clapped one fist into a palm. "Teachers first or students first?"

"...does it matter?" Elsa itched at her beanie. 

"Well, we're bound to run into auntie Gothel sooner or later," Anna shrugged, "and the teachers' lounge'll probably be packed right now, so let's go ask some kids?"

Elsa shrugged. "Sure?"

"At least pretend to care..." Anna's head sunk.

And yet again, without so much as a hint of another person, the two sisters picked their way through the many carpeted halls, back to the play area at the front. And finally! Some life! Dozens of kids in their early to mid teens, playing outside with reckless abandon. Some taking advantage of the recent rainfall by jumping in puddles, while others kicking a ball around, maybe jumping rope, and some merely being unsociable, glued to their cell phones and talking to no one.

"Oh, that's a relief!" Anna took in a breath. "I was starting to think this place was a ghost town! 

"Not ghost school?" Elsa said.

"Noooo! That sounds like a crappy Saturday morning cartoon!" Anna flailed back at her sister. "Anyway! Kids! Kids are good! Let's go talk to some!"

"Big vague, Anna," the older sister deadpanned. "There's got to be a hundred kids here. We can't talk to all of them in the... how long does recess last? Fifteen minutes?"

"Probably something like that," Anna nodded. "Wellll... the fIke said that Wendy girl was part of an exchange program with a few others. And I'll bet that blonde girl," she pointed to a lone blonde sitting on a wall. "Is one of them."

"The one with the mug?"

"The very same."

"Five bucks says you pulled that out your ass."

"You're on, Els." Anna pouted.

"Wait, do you even have five bucks?" Was a question asked far too late.

"Will do," Anna smirked. "Just as soon as I ask the girl, and-"

"-hooold on," Elsa grabbed ahold of her sister's arm. "I'll do the asking."

"What's wrong, blondie?" Anna was already drawing unneeded attention. "Don't trust your sweet innocent wittle sister?"

The puppy dog eyes? Seriously?

"...i-it's not that," Elsa shook herself back to her senses. "You want me to take these cases seriously, don't you? So let me."

Anna's cheek puckered. "...okay then. Be my guest, oh dear Elsa."

Elsa drew herself up to her full height, "...alright then I will!"

And with strong footsteps and a still-itchy forehead, drew the attention of about half the kids on the playground as she approached the enigmatic young blonde.

"Heh..." her voice failed her. "H-hello there, miss. Would you mind if I spoke to you for a moment? I-I'm... I'm not a cop..."

Anna floated up behind her sister as the two blondes simply stared each other down. Elsa simply smiled awkwardly, and the younger remained bright eyed and innocent looking. Fingers curled around a striped pink mug of what looked like tea, the youngster shared a bright, toothy smile with her interrogator, but said nothing. She pursed her lips, and took in a breath... but just exhaled again, to blow the steam away from her tea. And continued to smile at Elsa.

"Umm, Els?" A tap on the shoulder.

"What?" Elsa broke eye contact with the young girl to instead meet her sister's. "Worried I can't do it?!"

"Well you're not convincing me otherwise!" Anna hissed back.

"Give us a chance already Anna! I told her I wasn't a cop!"

"That's exactly what a cop would say!"

"Well what reason does she have to be scared of the cops?!"

"She's a teenager Els! All teenagers have reasons to avoid the cops!"

"That sweet, innocent little girl?!"

"Ohh, she ain't so innocent I betcha," Anna guffawed.

"Just what're you implying...?" Elsa frowned at her little sister. "Look, I know what I'm doing, okay? I've been doin' this for a lot longer than you, An- huh? Eh-where'd she go?"

Both sisters cast a confused eye across the wall the blonde girl was sitting on, but neither her or her stripy mug were to be found.

"...told ya she's got somethin' to hide." Elsa could hear her sisters smug grin.

"B-but-" Elsa spluttered, her hands making gestures she'd never learned. "But where did she go?!"

"Who cares where she went? You lost her!" Anna dropped herself onto the same wall. "So, master interrogator? Who you gonna magically extract information from now?"

"Well, I uhh... guess we could just find another-"

Elsa's face dropped as a telltale clanging ruined her plans once again.

"-teacher..."

"Baaack to the teachers' lounge we go!" Anna tugged at her sister's arm. "Oh, and you so owe me that five bucks, by the way."

"What? Do not!"

"She was drinking tea! Warm tea! That says 'exchange student' to me!"

"Auntie Gothel drinks warm tea!"

"And Auntie Gothel was born somewhere weird!"

"Oh yeah? Where??"

"...double or nothin'?"

"...you're on," Elsa shook her sister's hand, and the pair trudged their way back to the teachers' lounge.

 

It wasn't unlike your typical break room, Anna noted. Classic cheap wooden table in the centre, and the usual array of appliances peppered about, with a toaster, kettle and fridge easily visible from the doorway. A sink had been filled with mugs and ignored, while two vending machines lurked in the far corner - one of which looked a bit pummelled and broken. A neglected milk carton laid on the countertop, and Anna spied a bottle of suspicious brownish liquid in the back of a cupboard. 

"...is everywhere in this school depressing?" Elsa took a seat in one of the uncomfortable metal chairs.

"Well, it's a rough part of town Els. They're trying," Anna joined her, and winced as metal grooves raked her thighs. "Though I can't say I'm surprised about the scotch."

"Neither," Elsa unfolded a crumpled newspaper, "aww, they've done the crossword..."

"Hey, leave the puzzles alone," Anna quipped. "These people probably need a distraction or two."

"I'm not touching them, don't worry," Elsa spoke from behind her tabloid, "I'm just checking for, ahem, news. Seen this one?"

The paper whooshed across the table towards Anna.

"'Sanctuary slaughter'?" Anna grimaced at the title of the headline. Her eyebrows furrowed as she delved deeper, however, "'The bodies of three unidentified women found, St Marion's Church, eyeballs removed, drained of blood...'?!"

The redhead's thoughts had bypassed brew, and jumped straight to percolate. "Elsa... are you thinking what I'm thinking?!"

"That this could be where the umm," Elsa glanced around, and gulped. "F-flower, victims turn up?"

"W-well, it kinda fits the MO, I won't lie..." Anna shivered with endorphin release. "All women, eyeballs missing... hmm, maybe..."

She could literally heat the steam hissing in her mind as it overloaded with thoughts. "I mean, there's every chance it could be completely unrelated, but it could also be exactly what we're after, and we'd have to identify the bodies first, and that won't be easy 'cause it's a crime scene, and OH WHO THE FUCK'S MAKING COFFEE?!"

The kettle spluttered and steamed behind her as both sisters finally noticed a new addition to their company.

"My my Anna, you sure do get worked up over these things, don't you?"

Both sisters cast a wary glance to the offending appliance, only to find their aunt standing their, with a steaming mug of coffee and a smirk. Unlike her usual full length dresses, Gothel today wore business pants and a pleated blouse, with a blue cardigan for warmth and her hair scraped back into a strict bun.

"How... long have you been there, Auntie Gothel?" Anna's stunned expression was twisted into a smile.

"Ohh, just long enough," Gothel's eyes flashed. "These mad capped schemes of yours seem rather risky, Anna. I don't want to see my favourite niece in danger now, do I?"

"W-well no, but..." Both sisters shared a tacit argument.

"Well, I suppose nothing I say will change your minds now, will it?" Auntie Gothel took a sip from her coffee. "So why is it that I'm the one surprising you two at my workplace? That's a little bit backwards, isn't it girls?"

"I um, we were planning on visiting you, Auntie Gothel," Elsa piped up. "We just weren't sure when was the best time, what with trying to keep a low profile and everything..."

"Ohh, so that's what the silly hat is for?" Gothel clicked her tongue. "My, no wonder Mr Hatter found you both so easily. It doesn't much suit you, Elsa. Have you no better means of disguising yourself?"

Elsa hung her head. It wasn't just the beanie that itched now...

"And I suppose asking for your professional assistance in my next class would be a poor idea?" Gothel pitched. "That's a bit of a shame. The kids would love it."

"...cooking class, I presume?" Elsa's intrigue got the better of her.

"Why yes. Pizza too," Gothel cast a glance. "But I very well can't have you blow your cover just for your dear Auntie, can I? I suppose the kids will just have to go without..."

Elsa but on her lip, "well..."

"We can't today Auntie Gothel, sorry," Anna intervened. "After all, we've got a lotta work to do, interviewing kids and teachers and... crap."

"Oh, so dear Cindy has asked a quick favour of you both, has she?" Once again, Gothel didn't miss a trick. "Well, I'm not so sure two hobbyists are the best choice for the job,"

Anna's smile withered slightly.

"But I am sure you'll try your best. After all, we wouldn't want a media circus now, would we? Is there any way I can help?"

"Well..." Anna said, "is there... anything out know that she doesn't?"

"Officially, no," Gothel took a seat between the two. "But under the table, I can. I-"

"Oh, okay!" Anna nodded, and sank beneath the cheap wooden number, conscious to avoid the scores of gum stuck to its underside.

"Anna, not literally," Elsa's face fell into her palm.

"...I knew that." Anna sprang back up again.

"Whatever will I do with you both?" Gothel smiled. "Now, listen up alright? Your dear auntie has valuable information."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot more talking in this chapter, but I added in some humour and description in to hopefully balance things out a bit.
> 
> Coming up next, interviews with teachers and students, plus case progress.
> 
> Thanks! :D


	14. Chapter 14

It had been a gruelling day, to say the least. Juggling between teachers and students, attempting to figure out who was a witness, who knew anything at all, and who just wanted attention, was all really draining. For the most part, the teachers seemed willing and co-operative, however the students were understandably less trusting of two strange people asking them about scary recent events.

"I umm," one teenager gulped. "I d-don't know much, really. That girl with the funny name was away sick like two days ago, and hasn't been back since? I-is that a thing?"

"Three days..." Anna muttered into her notepad. "Um, yeah, that could totally be a thing! Riley... was it?"

The girl swept blonde bangs from her vision, "uh huh. Sorry if I couldn't help much...?"

"Oh, no no noo, you were plenty of help sweetie!" Anna flailed at her. "Y-you gave us another name, an even an address to check! That's a lot!"

"Really?" Young Riley's eyes were wide.

"Really really!" Anna offered a thumbs up. "Now, you get back to your lunch, alright? Thanks for helping!"

The skinny blonde broke out the smallest of smiles, as the two sisters broke away from her to discuss.

"You getting any big picture here?" Elsa hissed.

"Well, there does seem to be some kinda pattern," Anna tapped at her notepad. "Aside from the first one... Kari, her name was, the other victims, potential or otherwise, all seemed to be exchange students..."

"That'd be a big risk though, wouldn't it?" Elsa frowned. "Attacking exchange kids is just gonna force international jurisdiction... aren't the cops keeping this all real quiet?"

"Uh huh," Anna nodded. "They know it'll cause a shitstorm if the press found out. And there's only so long before some bigmouth spills all the info to their parents or something, so we've gotta be quick."

"Agreed," Elsa nodded. "So, inside job, you reckon? Teacher with a grudge?"

"Maaaayyyybe..." Anna stalled. "But I'm not so sure. I mean, that Kari girl, her last name was a McSomething-or-other. To me that implies they're not from around here, huh? Maybe whoever did this just had access to the school attendance records?"

"Attendance records?" Said Elsa. "And they'd be at the... library?"

"Probably internet too," Anna shrugged.

"Hmm..." a pensive hand to the chin. "Oh hang on, wait. Wendy Darling. That's a pretty normal name. You couldn't just assume someone was a foreigner with an ordinary name like that."

"'Foreigner' Elsa? Really?"

"Ohh, you know what I mean!"

"Have a bit more sensitivity about this, would ya?"

"Fine, fine... but yeah, we could be onto something with the library thing. We should ask Cindy about it, see what she knows."

"Sounds like a plan," Anna agreed. "But first..."

The redhead pointed to the right, and drew her sister's attention to a familiar looking recluse.

"Wait, here," Anna threw her point to the ground. And Elsa's arms folded tight as Anna crept up on the little blonde.

"...hey there," Anna sidled up alongside her. "How 'bout them pink elephants?"

The young blonde's smile stretched farther, and escalated into a light, airy giggle.

"They're doing very well, actually!" She beamed. With dilated eyes, she pointed off into the nothing. "Mr Hathi had a little argument with his wife, but it's okay because they made up again. Oh, and look, here comes little Tantor!"

She took a long draught from her tea - how was it still warm? - and began stroking an invisible something.

"May I?" Asked Anna.

"O-oh, yes of course!" She flourished at Anna, and the redhead obliged, floating a hand out near hers.

Elsa buried her face in one hand in the background as the two younger girls 'bonded'.

"So..." information extraction had begun. "Got a name, kiddo?"

The little blonde nodded fervently. "Oh, yes! My name is Alice, and - ooh, did you see that?"

"Ooh, that was super cute," Anna guessed. "So you're not from 'round here, huh? Here on exchange?"

"Mhmm!" More nodding. 

"Greeeaaat..." Anna grinned. Two outstretched hands behind her. "So, you know much about the other exchange kids? How many of you are there?"

"There's rather a few of us," Alice had both arms wrapped around a nothing. "There's myself, Wendy and Taran. We all stay in the same foster house near San Fransokyo, b-but Wendy's not there right now..."

"San Fransokyo?" Anna changed tack. "Ooh, near Riley?"

"Uh-huh!" Alice recovered, and drained her mug of tea. "Dear Riley lives three blocks down from us. Her mother's very nice. We see we on the news every morning!"

"The news...?" Anna shot a glance back at Elsa. "Wh-what does she do on the news?"

"She sits behind a desk and reads the news, silly potato!" Alice giggled. "Ooh, did you see Tantor? He's blowing bubbles!"

"Uh-huh..." Anna dismissed. Her mind was buzzing with more thoughts than she could process, and it was all resulting in a major migraine.

That Riley girl's mother was a news anchor.

Meaning that Riley girl probably watched the news a lot.

Meaning that Riley girl likely saw some CCTV footage recently...

"W-well, thanks for the talk, Alice!" Anna strained a smile. "I've got to get going now, and so busy adult things, alright?"

"Aww..." Alice sighed pointedly. "Well, do talk to me again when you next visit, okay!"

"You got it!" Anna flustered, and wasted no time in dragging her sister away from it all.

"Ow! Heyyy! What's the problem, Anna?! You were doing g-"

"That little blonde kid, Riley. Her mom is a news anchor." Anna's voice was dangerously gravelly. "So we gotta go. Now. And you better pray she didn't recognise you."

Elsa gulped down searing bile. What if she did? What if people figured her out?

This was a bad idea. She shouldn't have come along in the first place...

"Y-you're right," Elsa trembled. "Let's get going."

And suddenly, eyes were everywhere. Like searchlights illuminating her, she could feel the burn of every piercing gaze. The kid jumping rope. The one on the tyre swing. The ones playing tetherball...

Her skin clammed up, exploding in hot sweaty patches as she felt herself blushing viciously, and the damned beanie hat itching more than ever.

"Els," A voice spoke, barely registering. But then a sharp pain as two hands clapped hers together.

"Ow!" Elsa yelped, recoiling away and shaking the pain off.

"Pay attention!" Anna stared her down. "You gotta do this right, okay? Acting like this, in a school full of kids, is suspicious as all fuck. You hear me Elsa?!"

Her throat felt like it had a baseball lodged in it. Eyes streaming, sinuses clogging, there was little she could do in way of response.

So a nod.

"Listen very carefully!" Anna's voice was very echoey. "I'm gonna talk to Cindy. Tell her what we know. You are gonna start the car, and wait for me. Got it?"

Elsa gulped down her baseball, and felt it crash in the pit of her stomach. "...y-yes."

"Good," a wry smile. "Now don't screw this up Els."

Elsa panned to her right. There was the car. Still there. It was purple, and it wasn't really hers, it was Flynn's, but it was there. And it was safety. She had to get there.

Anna had disappeared already. That wasn't good. The entire world seemed to be shaking beneath Elsa as she lifted one foot forward. It might as well have been erupting with how warm it had suddenly gotten. And yet still, the kids kept staring. Why were they staring? She hadn't done anything wrong! It wasn't her fault!

Her vision blurred for tears. It wasn't her fault... was it?

Another shaky step forwards. 

Maybe it was her fault.

After all, she didn't do anything to stop it. What if she could have saved Jasmine? Stopped her from dying somehow? From violating her father's wishes? From falling in love? From meeting in the first place...

It was all a mess, and it was all her fault.

Footsteps edged slowly closer to the bright purple mustang, glinting in the sunlight, and Elsa just knew that people had noticed her weird behaviour by now. Because only drunks and creepers staggered about like this in the daytime.

Meanwhile an out of breath Anna was back at Cindy's office;

*knock, knock!*

*thud...*

 

C'mon Anna. Less takeout, more red meat! 

She wiped her glistening brow. Was she really this unfit?

The door to Cindy's office creaked open, and a bright eyed, energetic Anna met the principal's gaze once again.

"H-hey there!" A heart pounded furiously beneath Anna's calm, "Just thought I'd letcha know that we're shutting up shop for the day. We've got a couple leads, and we're gonna check on those hopefully before the day's up. If it's alright with you, we'd like to come back another day, do the same thing again?"

"I..." Cinderella faltered, "I umm, yes, yes of course..."

A grateful hand was extended. "Because that's what private detectives do, isn't it? They flit around see and there, like little birdies building their nests, and-"

But then her eyes bolted wide. 

"Ahem! That is, you have to actually follow the clues you've been given, don't you?"

A strained smile.

Anna frowned, just a little. "Y-yes! Yes we do! And that's what we're going to do! So just you sit tight, lady principal Cindy, because we'll be back before you know it!"

Anna dug into her jeans pocket, and extracted a card. "I know they're not the most professional looking, but... please try to contact me if anything happens, huh?"

Cinderella suppressed a chuckle. "A... trading card?"

"Oh, and while we're here?" Anna straightened herself out. "I preferred the bird metaphor. Super cute!"

The high school principal flushed a shade of crimson as Anna flounced away again. With a gulp and an awkward glance around the room, Cinderella had to laugh. Nobody could know.

\---

"So yeah, turns out that Cindy's a real softie," Anna said as she pulled the car door shut. "Not all business and teaching after all. Maybe she's just-"

But Elsa wasn't in the responding mood, her sister had just noticed. With her reddened forehead bashed into the steering wheel, and two clenched fists ready to tear chunks out of the leather, it was clear the elder sister was not in a happy place.

"Ahh, crud..." Anna sighed. "Alright Els, c'mon, snap outta this."

A halfhearted shoulder shake yielded nothing. 

"Look, if you're gonna sit there like a marshmallow all day, at least let me drive?" She urged. "Cause y'know, we need to be not here right now?"

Elsa merely emitted a small gurgle, and otherwise didn't react.

"Ugh, to hell with this..." Anna groaned. Elsa was shunted backwards into the chair, again barely even reacting, and the redhead squashed herself in between the steering wheel and the sister.

"Just sit tight, oh dear Elsa..." Anna wrenched up the seat lever, and scooted them both back so that she could breathe. "Your little sister's here to do allll the work!"

But then a secret grin despite herself. Elsa's arms were buckled around Anna's waist, more for comfort than anything else, and Anna couldn't help but give the purple beast a couple of test revs. After all, she'd been waiting a year or so for this.

Her feet flexed unfamiliar muscles as she brought the monster into gear, and pulled out onto the road. Flynn would've had a coronary if he saw this... Anna smirked. But if Elsa was unresponsive, Anna was going to have to take over. It was the responsible this to do, wasn't it?

"Right..." Anna adjusted the rear view mirror. "St Marion's Church, here we come."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo AO3. Here be an update. It's a bit choppy, but it pushes things forwards a bit, and that's good right?
> 
> So yeah, I'm thinking of removing the elsa/Anna ship. What are your guys' thoughts on this, if any?
> 
> Also, are my chapters long enough? I've always been a bit apprehensive about that.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. Over and out! :D


	15. Chapter 15

The first thing Elsa registered was Anna. Or rather, her scent and her presence, wafting in like a bug through the open window. Her sister's steady heartbeat, strangely combined with the bizarre vibrating beneath her, made for a strangely comforting experience. Elsa smiled, and gently nuzzled her sister.

But then reality struck. Elsa's eyes bolted open as she realised what was happening. The trees and things weren't just going sideways; Anna was driving!

"A-Anna?!" The blonde gasped, rearing outwards and forcing the mustang to veer. "What're you doing?!"

"Well driving of course!" Anna called behind her. "Also hello! Good to see you back in the human world!"

Anna brought the car to a crawl, and parked it along the edge of the road."Not bad, huh?"

"Not bad?!" Elsa seethed. "Anna, I promised Flynn I wouldn't let you!"

"And what else was I supposed to do, leave you a dribbling zombie while those school kids recognise you as a wanted criminal?" Anna snapped back instantly.

"Well helping me out of my panic attack would've been a start!" Elsa was on the attack again.

"Oh shush, that wasn't a panic attack..." Anna laughed her off. "The lack of panicking told me th-"

"-Anna," Elsa stopped her sister in her tracks. "Don't try to tell me what is and isn't a panic attack."

Anna let go of the wheel, and shuffled out from the driver's seat.

"A lot of people think a panic attack is just flailing like an idiot and screaming," Elsa didn't even move the seat back. "But let me ask you this; you ever had one?"

"W-well no, I-" Anna began, "...no. I-I guess I haven't."

"Well trust me, I wish they were as controllable as that," Elsa's voice chilled. "Panic attack might be the official term for it, but trust me, when your body just locks up, and you're unable to do anything, yet you can feel, see, hear, everything, i-it... it's not fun. Your body becomes its own prison, and unless someone can bring you out of it - don't ask me how, it's different every time," she forestalled her sister. "Y-yeah, unless someone can fix it for you, you've got no choice but to just... wait out your sentence. And who knows how long that can take..."

"I... I never knew," Anna was crestfallen. "I thought you'd just zoned out or something."

"They can look like that sometimes. And honestly, I'm kinda glad they do. It's better for people to think you're just zoned out, or even stoned, than a freaking neurotic crazy bit-"

"Whoa whoa, calm it!" Anna grabbed Elsa's fist before it could damage something valuable. "Listen to me Els. You are not neurotic, alright? A little unhinged, sure,"

 

Elsa twitched.

 

"-but that is in no way a bad thing! After all, if everyone thinks differently, how can anyone be considered sane in this world?"

"I..." Elsa faltered. Despite everything, Anna's inexplicable way with words had worked again. "...thanks, Anna. That actually made me feel better."

"No problem sis," Anna nuzzled the blonde's shoulder.

"So where are we now?"

"Outside that church you found in the paper," Anna explained. "Even if it isn't related to any of the other cases, it's still something worth investigating, because y'know, gory dead bodies and stuff."

Elsa finally shunted the driver's seat forward again, and the two sisters got out of the car. Elsa locked it with a 'beebeep!', and suddenly it got a whole lot colder.

The church in question was one of those ancient numbers, from about a billion years ago. Stained glass windows, crumbling stonework, creepy towers, creepier gargoyles... even a raven. Perched on top of the archway. The archway they had to pass through to enter the church.

"Ugh... feels like it's judging us..." Anna shivered as the pair passed underneath it. It and its beady little soulless eyes.

"Oh, it's just a bird Anna," Elsa laughed her off, "what's the worst it can-"

"Caw!" The raven squawked at them both, its loud cry carrying forever across the deathly quiet church grounds. With the fluttering of wings, several more ravens were startled from wherever they were hiding, and of course they charged down the two sisters. A half a dozen birds met two screaming young women, who flailed their way through the front doors of the old church to their safety.

Elsa rest one hand against the door, while Anna leant her whole body weight against it. Both were out of breath.

"Never... underestimate birds, Els." Anna raised a knowing finger. "Because they are defiant, deceiving little bas-"

"-Anna!"

"What?"

"We're in a church?" Elsa grit her teeth. "So try not to curse, alright?"

"Yeah yeah, let's just find the damn bodies or whatever..." Anna groaned. Stupid church rules. Where in the bible did it say 'Thou shalt not swear in church', exactly? It wasn't like a few measly words were gonna send her straight to hell.

But upon traversing the dusty hallways and various religious crap, Anna stumbled across something... rather interesting.

"Huh..." the redhead back stepped to get a closer look. Piquing her interest was a six foot tall antique mirror. Hauntingly detailed, with a polished ornate border surrounding the entire vision, Anna could see her own dilated gaze reflected back at-

"May I help you, miss?"

"FU-dge!" Anna could barely censor herself in time. "Son of a-! Who's a-! Where's the... who?"

"Do you require any assistance, young lady?" The withered voice spoke again. Anna spun around to lock eyes with the creepiest, oldest old guy she'd ever met. Swathed entirely in blue and purple robes, this creeper stood with a smile, but even that seemed menacing, and if anything ran screaming from his eyes. 

"Claude Frollo, priest of this establishment," he extended a bony hand. "How may I be of service, young lady?"

"Eh-heh," Anna pinched at the fragile old hand, and shook it gently. "H-hi there, I'm A-Anna. Me and my sister saw a thing in the paper recently, and-"

"Ahh... so I see," the old man cut her off. "You're here to see the dead bodies, hmm? Well I'm afraid to say I've no time to deal with wasters like-"

"Whoa whoa, wait a minute buddy!" Anna fixed him with a glare. "You can't just assume we're weirdos! We happen to be experts in this sorta thing, so you can just back the frick off and let us investigate!"

"Such, insolence..." If it were possible, Frollo's gaze darkened still. "What right have you to talk to me like that...?!"

"A-as much right as anyone else," Anna stepped back, yet he only matched her distance, "you big... big stupid-"

But a withered hand clawed forwards, and grasped at Anna by the hair.

"Such beautiful, fiery locks..." The priest took in a juddering breath. "Perhaps something could be arranged, hm? Are you seeking absolution for your," he inhaled again, "...sins?"

Anna grimaced at the skeletal figure that had her disarmed. As much as her roots burned with pain, and her limbs willed to fight, she couldn't move a muscle. Punching this creepy old bastard right in his giant stupid face would have been the perfect satisfaction, too. Anna squirmed, and writhed, and was powerless to-

"Alright, that's enough."

Frollo's menacing gaze was broken, and Anna could finally move again, finding the strength to launch her foot into the old man's stomach, and free herself from his grip.

"Kgh!" Frollo grunted, and fell to one knee. "My my, what thorns you have..."

"And what horns you have, for a man of the church," Elsa folded her arms. "You should be ashamed of yourself, you sick, perverted bastard."

"All the same," the old man staggered back to his feet. "You'll find nothing here. Begone, heathens."

Both sisters exchanged a glance, and without so much as a hint, the priest had disappeared.

"...wanna tell me what just happened?" Asked Elsa.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Els," Anna frowned. "What I wanna know is, how did the fucker-"

"Anna!"

"What, so you can say bastard in church but I can't say fucker?"

"Anna!"

"Fine, fine..." Anna groaned. "But how did he sneak up on me? I was standing in front of a goddamn mirror!"

Both sisters gave the giant ornate number another glance. 

"...l-let's get outta here."

"Good idea."

____

After a hasty retreat and another hour or so of driving, the two sisters found themselves back in a more suburban setting, with typical, middle class houses dotted along tidy streets, and every house had a car parked outside it. Kids played nonchalantly among the nature outside, be it kicking a ball around, flying a kite, or swinging about in swings.

"The fuck is this place?" Anna was horrified.

"A normal suburban street, Anna," her sister 'reassured' her.

"This is not normal," Anna was defiant, as the dirty mustang was parked between two SUVs. "The houses, the cars... everything looks the same! This is the farthest thing from normal, Elsa."

"Either way," Elsa groaned. "We're here for a reason. Serious mode please."

Anna's mouth opened and closed several times, as if there were something she dearly wanted to say, but had lost the words for. A few gurgles later, she stopped trying.

"Sixty two, sixty four... sixty six. Here we go." Elsa rapped her knuckles on the fancy mahogany door.

And no one answered immediately.

"Oh look, they've got a doorbell," Anna glared at it. "Bet ya another five bucks it's got a custom tone..."

"We don't wanna seem impatient, Anna." Elsa's foot began tapping. 

"Oh, and you think one tiny knock is gonna carry all the way through this fucking palace?" Anna frowned. "C'mon Els, just ring the bell and lose the bet already."

"I'm not making that bet Anna." Elsa countered.

"Fine, just ring the bell anyway."

"Just wait a damn minute, Anna."

"We've been here three weeks already! Just hit the bell, and bibbity bobbity boop, they'll answer! Then we get to do the thing we're here for, instead of waiting around like a couple'a dumbfu-"

A scratching of locks halted Anna mid-sentence. She barely had time to plaster on a strained smile before the door could open, and a middle aged woman in mostly green peered out.

"H-hello dears?" The woman smiled. "May I help you?"

Anna remained in her stunned silence, so Elsa took the reins.

"Err, hi there! Is there a umm, Mereeda staying here?"

"Mereeda...?" The woman in green was despondent. "Ohh, you must mean Merida! Come in, come!"

'Isn't that what I said?' Elsa mouthed to her sister. 

'Nope. You butchered it' came Anna's tacit response.

"Merida? Oh, Meridaaa!" The little woman in green called up a set of stairs. "You've got some visitors, Meri-"

But her voice was drowned out by a clamour of angry shouting from up the stairs,

"OCH, GET IT UP YE YE DROUTHY BASTARDS."

"She won't hear you," another woman called as she toddled down the stairs. This one was all in blue instead, with a much stouter build and grumpier personality than her green counterpart.

"Yes, yes thank you, Merryweather," the green woman smiled up at her. "W-what were your names, dears?"

"Umm, I'm Elsa, and this is Anna," Elsa pointed to her sister. "We were just wondering why Merida hadn't been to school lately?"

"O-oh, I see..." the woman in green faltered.

"Might as well tell them, Fauna," Merryweather sighed.

"...very well then," Fauna gave an awkward smile. "W-well, according to her, there's a big sports tournament going on right now, from her home country. A-and we were silly enough to promise her she could watch it."

"...she skipped school to watch a game?" Anna frowned.

"I'm afraid so, fears," Fauna smiled. "You're free to go up and talk to her, but you might not get much of an answer. Is she... a school friend of yours?"

"School friend...?" Her words were met with confusion. "Oh! Nooo, no no, not at all! We're just invest- did you really think we still went to school?"

"W-well..." Fauna's voice quickly dissolved into her blush. "I... I best let you be. Have a lovely day!"

And without another word, the red-and-green Fauna skipped away down the hall as fast as her little feet would carry her.

"...I think we embarrassed her," Elsa shared a look with her sister.

"Aw, she'll get over it," Merryweather dismissed from the landing. "Now Merida's up the stairs, first door on the right. Good luck!"

And the concern between the two sisters grew. What could have possibly made a sports match so dangerous that they'd need to be wished luck?

"ACH, YE USELESS EEJITS," the same voice roared from above. "THAT WAS PRACTICALLY AN OPEN GOAL!"

"Open goal?" Elsa muttered to her sister as they rounded the top of the stairs.

"...Soccer?" Anna shrugged back. The indicated door was ajar, with ominous blue flashes contrasting with the otherwise darkness of the room. Knocking obviously wasn't going to make a difference.

"Err, hello...?" Anna edged the door open a bit farther, only to get blown back by yet more outrage from the teenager,

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, I'LL BURST THE LOT OF YOUSE!"

Two sisters peered around the frame nervously to find the source of all the anger. Clad in a green and white striped soccer jersey and jeans, this redhead made no attempt to tame her mane as she sprawled across a single bed. Various cans and food packets littered the floor, and it looked like the curtains hadn't been opened in weeks. Illuminated by only the glare of the TV she lay, shovelling snacks into her mouth as men wearing identical jerseys skipped around the pitch on screen.

"C'MON TE FUCK ALREADY!" She bellowed at the screen. "PUT YER FUCKIN' ZIMMER FRAME DOON, AND KICK THE BAW!"

"That's... some impressive anger you've got there!" Anna piped up, finally drawing the teen's attention away from her TV screen.

"Am no angry," Merida deadpanned back at her. "I just get a bit passionate when my FUCKING GRANMAW CAN PLAY BETTER THAN THESE WANKERS!"

"Okay, okay..." Elsa tried to disarm the situation. "So you're... Merida DunBroche? On exchange at-"

"Err, I think it's pronounced DunBrotch, Els," Anna interjected.

"What? No, it isn't, Anna. Remember, I went to Europe? I know how to pronounce these-"

Merida rolled her eyes at the both of them. "Yer both wrong. It's DunBroch, with a 'chaah!'. Make a sound like yer chokin', and ye'll dae fine. Oh, and aye, I do."

"You do...?" Elsa took a moment to catch up. "Ohhh, the school! Right, I'm with you now. Is this soccer tournament-"

"Football..." Merida growled.

"Y-yeah, is this the reason you haven't been attending lately?" Elsa urged.

"Are ye the attendance polis?" Merida frowned, her eyes still glassy at the TV screen?"

"N-no, no," Elsa said, "we're just investigating a rash of disappearances in the area, and we were checking if you were one of them."

"Ah, right," Merida grabbed a handful of chips from the bag. "Well, am clearly no dead, but ye might wanty talk te wee Chris upstairs. Am busy."

"Chris?" Both sisters looked at each other. "Well, thanks for the help!" Said Anna. "Here's a card to call me on if you can think of anything interesting, okay?"

"Aye, nae bother," Merida dismissed them both with a lazy hand wave. Deflating, Anna simply placed the card down on the nearest space she could find, and the two sisters left Merida to her own devices. Her rage reignited almost immediately however, and carried all the way up the stairs.

"Kinda rude, don'cha think?" Anna frowned.

"Ehh, people get that way with sports. She gave us another name at least." Elsa shrugged. Merida's raging had finally quietened down by the time they reached the next floor.

*knock knock!*

"Soo good to be able to hear your own thoughts again!" Anna stretched her arms, as Elsa rest against the bannister. "I didn't know people could be that loud!"

"You're that loud whenever you're excited," Elsa quipped with a smirk.

"Am not!" The redhead protested. And as she did so, she could hear the echo of her voice rattle back down the stairs again.

Elsa didn't even need to say 'I told you so'.

"Alright, maybe a little..." She mumbled. "Dammit, what's taking this kid?"

"Could be still at school? After school club or something?" Elsa said. But as if to defy her, the door creaked open not a moment later.

"...hello?"

Peering out through the door was a young lad of about twelve or thirteen. With a mess of brownish hair, and clutching an oversized teddy bear, the boy certainly did contrast with Merida downstairs.

"Err... Christopher?" Anna guessed, as another bout of rage escaped Merida's room.

"Y-yes, that's me?" The boy smiled. "C-Christopher Robin actually, but just Chris will do. Is there a problem?"

"Ohh, not a problem no," Anna lit up at his polite response. "We're just looking into the weird spat of disappearances at your school, and we've just been told by Merida downstairs that you might know something?"

"...oh," Christopher Robin faltered. "W-well I wouldn't go so far as to say I knew something, certainly not anything Merida doesn't know herself..."

"She told us she was, ahem... busy." Anna's smile stretched thin.

"Ohh, with the football I suppose?" Christopher squeezed his bear tighter. "W-well then, it wouldn't hurt. Only, I don't know if it would actually merit your concern."

"There's no detail too small, honey," Anna urged.

"Oh no no, what I mean is, I'm not sure if it's actually connected at all," Christopher stammered out a response. "It's just that... did you notice the other room on Merida's floor?"

"Other room?" Both sisters looked to each other. "Now that you mention it..."

"Y-yes, that room. Merida and the ladies are all distraught over it, because she hasn't come home. You may have noticed their distress?"

"Seemed more like stress than distress," Elsa sighed in the background.

"W-well, either way, I'm sure they're dealing with it in their own ways," Christopher glanced away. "But that doesn't fix the problem, because she could still be alive!"

"She could?" Anna's voice dissolved into a hush.

"Who, Chris?" Elsa spoke up for her. "Who, could still be alive?"

And Chris was practically strangling his silly old bear now. Quaking in the doorway, the young man mumbled,

"Ellie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for those of you who read this as a partial. I hit the wrong button and figured I'd just finish it 'on the job', so to speak.
> 
> Anyway, update, PLENTY more cameos, and a bit more of a plot thing developing. It shouldn't be too hard to guess who Ellie is? ;)


	16. Chapter 16

"Ellie?"

Both sisters shared a confused look. 

"Who's Ellie, Christopher?"

The boy squashed his bear tighter.  "Well umm... we call her Ellie because no one can pronounce her actual name. B-but she disappeared two weeks or so ago, and that Kari girl was found about two weeks after she went missing, s-so we're hoping against hope that she's still... alive?"

"Hang on, Ellie..." Anna tapped a finger to her lips, "...?! Small, blonde kid, weird name?!"

"Y-yes?" Christopher hugged his bear. 

"She's one of the ones I've got one file! Elsa, she might not be dead!"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, Anna!" Elsa called out through her sister vigorously shaking her. "She's been missing what, a couple weeks now?"

"Well yeah, but so were Kari and Wendy before they turned up. So that means they're being kept somewhere for a couple of weeks before they're killed. Which means we've got a chance!"

"Straws, Anna! We're clutching at straws!"

"Well fine then, you go play with your straws Elsa. In the meantime, I'll go save the girl and be a hero and receive all the glory!" Anna huffed, but smirked back at the older sister.

"But we don't even know where to start looking...!" Elsa rolled her eyes. Meanwhile Anna was already halfway down the stairs.

"That's not a problem," she dismissed her sister with a hand wave. "We know someone who does."

\------

Two hours later, the sisters had arrived at the general hospital. With Anna's hustle and bustle, and Elsa's 'cunning' disguise, the pair were ready to infiltrate the complex and save the-

"Whaddya mean it's past visiting hours?! Anna rattled the window of the receptionist's office.

"Ma'am, it's almost ten o'clock. At night." The receptionist inhaled her thirteenth cigarette of the pass. "If you really must visit your uhh... friend," she puffed out a cloud of smoke. "Then I suggest you come back in the morning, toots."

"Look Miss... Packard," Anna squinted at the receptionist's name tag through the haze of smoke. "This is literally a matter of life and death. If we don't get the information we need and fast, another young girl might not be so lucky to land up in here. You wanna take responsibility for that?!

"I'll take responsibility for your ass hittin' the pavement, sweetie," Miss Packard smiled devilishly. "So unless you can offer me a warrant, or some proof, ID, y'know... something, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

"B-but what about the girl?! You wanna just let her die?!" Anna cried.

"Anna..." Elsa coughed next to her.

"Don't sorry I got this," the redhead hissed back.

"Uh huh. If it were that important kiddo, you'd have proved it by now. Have a nice day, you two."

"Ungh..." Anna stamped her foot in protest. 

"Told you the Bikini Inspector badge wouldn't work," Elsa made sure to keep her voice deep. Because as crap as this disguise was, it was her only chance.

"Oh yeah? Well if you're so smart, how 'bout you tell me what WILL work, El...mer?!"

'Elmer?!' The blonde frowned internally. That was an awful name choice, even if she only had half a second to improv it. "W-well, I..."

She made sure the mound of fluff atop her lip was in place, and fixed the old lady a smile. "Hey umm, listen. I know we don't have any ID, but I do we have one two three four... five, reasons for you to trust us. Will a little green let you look the other way? Just for ten minutes?"

The receptionist cackled out more smoke, and lit up another cigarette, having not yet finished the previous. "You must be as green as your wife, sir. Because I think you'll find that my minimum bribe rate is a fifty. So unless you've got a Menken sittin' in that pretty little man purse of yours-"

"Aw c'mon!" Anna flailed her arms. "This is important dammit!"

"Then go get some important papers," Packard laugh-choked. "Cause lemme tell ya, Bikini Inspector badges and bribes of singular Ashmans, are makin' you both look mighty suspicious. So get outta here before I throw ya both-"

"-Miss Packard, might I remind you that patients are tryin' ta sleep?" Came an imperious voice from down the hall. The receptionist hushed as quickly as if her voice had been pulled right out of her, and the flappy doors burst open. Through them strolled a tall, impossibly thin man garbed in very undoctorly black. His cane tappa-tapping across the polished hospital floor with his every step, this man exuded entirely too much confidence and poise.

"Now Miss Packard, I believe you're overdue for a coffee break." The skinny man rest two slender hands stop his cane.

"N-not really Doctor. I've just had my four-" Packard started.

"Ahpp-p-p! That wasn't a suggestion, pretty lady. Go get yaself a coffee."

Packard just stared grimly at him. "Fine..."

She stomped off down the hallway, however her shadow remained where it was for a moment. It slinked away, and dissolved beneath the dark man.

"Facilier at your service," he tipped his top hat, and offered Anna a strangely cold handshake. "Am I to believe that you are both here to see Miss Wendy?"

"You don't look much like a doctor?" Anna noted.

"And you don't look much like an investigator, miss," Facilier didn't miss a beat, bowing low because that made it polite. "But yes, well observed. I think you'll find that I am not a typical doctor. My profession is far more..." the shadows dipped, "arcane."

"Well whatever it is, it's keeping Wendy alive, so we're grateful for that." Anna smiled out of obligation. "So uhh... d'you mind if we umm...?"

"Gave her a visit?" Facilier said it for her. "Why, I don't suspect you'll get much from the poor girl, but sure. Surprise me! There's just one little thing ya gotta sign before I let you through. Let's call it a... 'declaration of confidentiality'."

"...it's a waiver isn't it?" Elsa deadpanned.

"Call it whatever you want honey," Facilier smiled toothily, and Elsa balked. Clearly the receptionist was just stupid. 

"But if you sign this little contract for me, I'll 'waive' you through to see little miss Wendy."

"Ugh," Elsa rubbed at her temples. This was less than ideal. Signing a contract to see a very sick patient they had no connection to sounded like a small price to pay, but...

"Lemme see that contract," she grunted, and snatched it from Facilier's hands.

"Oh, a speed reader, are we?" Facilier smirked. "While I always recommend reading the small print, I may be tempted to remind y'all that miss Packard could be back from her coffee break any moment. She won't take kindly to you two loiterin', you hear me?"

"C'mon Elsa, it's just a medical waiver or something," Anna insisted. "Nothing serious!"

"Ngh..." Elsa grimaced at the parchment in her hands. "Well... I gave it a skim read, and I didn't see anything suspicious... alright fine!"

She hastily scribbled a signature onto the contract, and Facilier snatched it back off of her just a little too quickly.

"Excellent, excellent!" He cheered their efforts. "Now I'll just take you both on through. Bear in mind that I cannot give you long, ladies, I do hope you'll be able to find out what ya need."

Facilier tapped his cane twice, and the flappy doors down the hall blew open, allowing them passage. Two jittery sisters followed after him and his shadow, which seemed to dance about wherever it pleased.

"You sure we can trust this guy?" Anna hissed.

"Not a chance." Elsa whispered back. "But we need him right now."

"And so does miss Wendy, ladies." Facilier grinned, and shocked the pair of them. "You see, I have some powerful friends keeping her alive, and let me just say that they ain't cheap. Whatever's doing this to her, it ain't of this natural world. And I don't mean to start a turf war, but this has me in a bit of a... quandary, to say the least. You know what I'm sayin'?"

The shadow man span around on the spot however, and said, "but don' worry. They ain't gettin' in here. I'm makin' sure of it."

Facilier flashed a gold tooth. "Now you ladies best be quick. After all, it is past this babygirl's bedtime. Shall we say ten minutes?"

"Ten... ten minutes?" Elsa gawped. "Oh umm! Anna, quick! There's no time!"

"I know Elsa, I heard the guy too!" Anna fumbled alongside her sister, and both spilled out either side of the nearest hospital bed. Buried amidst the mountain of sheets was an auburn haired young girl, of about twelve or thirteen. She was surrounded by awful looking machines that beeped melancholically, and there was an absurd amount of bandages around her neck and shoulders.

Meanwhile Facilier just stood there, smiling. His contract seemed to have disappeared, yet his shadow was still holding it...?

"H-hey there, sweetie..." Elsa ignored the heavy feeling that emanated through the room. "My name's Elsa, and this is my sister Anna. We've got some questions to ask you, and they're really important. Do you think you could spare us a minute or five?"

A weak left hand shuttered away from its resting place on the bed, and ascended upwards past the girl's chest to gently clasp at her throat. Wendy sniffled, and tears bubbled in her eyes.

"I'm afraid the little lady can't talk right now," Facilier advised from the shadows. "On account of her throat almost gettin' ripped out."

"...ah," Anna balked at the details. "That makes things for difficult. Wendy sweetie? You think you could write stuff down? Maybe draw us a picture?"

"Not with that hand she can't," Facilier said.

"She can try...!" Anna was able to soften the bark in her voice before returning her attention to Wendy. "Now this is super important Wendy. Because there's another missing girl out there, just like you were..."

Wendy's eyes widened, and her breathing began escalating. As did the dozens of machines surrounding her.

"Need I remind you not to upset my precious patients?" Facilier's voice was low and dangerous.

"Oh gods..." Elsa grimaced. "Wendy Wendy, it's okay honey, don't worry! Nothing bad'a about to-"

But then Anna threw her arms around the teen. Slowly did Wendy's struggles cease, and the machines start beeping at their normal rate again.

"It's okay, you're safe here," she muttered to the younger girl. Tears streamed from Wendy's eyes, but her breathing slowed, and Facilier relaxed.

"Let's not have that happen again, you hear me ladies?" He narrowed his eyes at the both of them. Two nods in response.

"Alright, pen and paper, pen and paper!" Elsa rifled through her bag. "Listen honey, I know it's hard, but we need you to be really brave for us. Can you do that?"

The pen was pushed into Wendy's shaking hand. 

"If you can, could you please just write down everything you remember about that night?"

Wendy's breathing escalated again, and prompted a warning cough from Facilier. But just as Anna was about to plead with the man, Wendy began scribbling down some barely legible words.

All three watched with varying levels of unease as the young girl forced the words out, yet more tears spilling out of her in the meantime. But then suddenly she pushed the book away and brought her good arm to her face, and sobbed into it.

"...that's enough, I think," Facilier clicked his tongue.

"I-I... I agree," said Elsa as she scooped up the stationery. "Thank you for your help Wendy. Thank you so much! Thanks to you, we just might be able to stop a monster!"

The two sisters stared at the scrawl on the paper. The letters were barely even readable, forget the whole words. However the girl's right arm was in plaster, Elsa reasoned.

"Now I hope you two know what you're doin'," Facilier unfolded his arms. "Because lemme tell ya, whatever this thing is it ain't a pushover. Just make sure you know how to beat it before you go tryin', alright?"

The two sisters frowned at him, and he flashed another sparkly grin.

"...right," Anna muttered, and both sisters dashed back to the car.

"First things first, we try and figure what it means. You drive, I'll read." She said, bundling herself into the passenger's seat.

"Gotcha," Elsa put her foot down, and sped away from the complex. "So we where are we headed first?"

"Well umm..." Anna squinted at the scrawl on the paper. "I think this here says bridge? And another word... woods? There a bridge near the middle school?"

"I dunno, check the map," Elsa's gaze was firmly on the road ahead.

"what map? I haven't got a map!"

"You don't have a map?!

"I don't have a lotta things!"

"Well then how're we gonna find the poor kid!?"

"...I don't know! But I'll be damned if I don't try!"

"...right!" Elsa put the brake to the floor. "Let's get out, get some flashlights, and do this the old fashioned way.

Silently, Anna nodded. The trunk was popped, and two sisters armed themselves with flashlights, weapons, and snacks. Just in case.

 

\-----

The young girl groaned in pain. Her voice echoing forever through this dank, dark, filthy cave, she wished for mercy, however it came. Anything was preferable to this rotting dungeon.

She tried wrenching her hands free from their dirty bindings; no such luck. Her legs were in no fairer a state, bound at the ankles and bloodied. Her hair, once a golden blonde, was now matted and knotted together with a grisly combination of blood and cave grime. The luxury of a hot bath, a drink of water, or even surroundings that weren't full of rotting carcasses... a pleasure beyond her wildest imaginations. 

She'd lost track of how long she'd been in here. Was it days? Weeks? Months, even? 

There were four others in here when she was first brought in. All about her age, all were bloodied and beaten. And all of them were dragged out screaming. It would speak their name, and they would scream their lungs out until they could no more. When the silence came, it was thick and heavy, like soup. It was the only thing they had, until the next one was taken, and it all started again.

It was her turn next. There weren't any others left, not to talk to, nor to scream with. So when it came for her, and she knew it would, she was going to have to scream for all of them. Maybe if she screamed loud enough, she would be heard. It wasn't much, but it was the best plan she had. Just as long as she still had the strength to scream. Lifting her head had become quite the chore.

The girl flexed her fingers again. If only he could reach her bauble, all of this would've been so much easier.

A heavy trundle from outside had the cave rattling. Maybe a passing car or something. People with their own lives, enjoying a blissful ignorance. Knowing nothing of the poor kidnapped girl in the cave. Maybe they were people who knew her, though she doubted it. She'd only been in his stupid country a few months, and now she was tied up in a cave. She was a pretty poor tourist.

More sounds began echoing through the cave. A gentle, if spine-chilling tic-catack-catack, almost like someone were hitting the same two keys on a xylophone. What little light that did filter in from the outside was siddenly stolen, by its shadow.

'tic-catack-catack' it clopped closer. The skeletal horse let out a snort, and the rider raised one arm, pointing for her.

Despite her resolve, despite her insistence that she would look this monster dead in the eye and scream for all she was worth, the girl quivered like a falling leaf. Her vision blurred with tears almost instantly, and what little she could move was all of a sudden sore and jerky.

"It's time," the monster rattled, its voice harsh and chilling.

Was this it? The last thing she'd ever see?

-Another rustling outside-

She had barely even experienced her teenage years, and now this creature was going to take that away from her?

-the clap of rushed footsteps-

The young girl frowned. There was no way someone else knew she was here. There just couldn't be-

"C'mon Els! There's no time!"

The girl's heart thudded. That was a voice! She definitely heard a voice! People were trying to save her!

 The horseman could hear the voices too, however. With a growl and a whinny, they drew their blade, and turned about in pursuit of the torchlight flashing in from the other end of the cave.

"W-w-watch out!" The got managed to squeak in warning, her tiny voice bouncing through the cave.

"A voice?! She's here Els! She's-"

"BAH-HAHAHAH!" The horseman roared, and galloped after them. Its blade glinted in the light as visions of two young women flooded into the cave. There were gunshots, followed by more maniacal laughter, and another whinnying from the horse.

There were more gunshots, rifling through the cave. And yet, the horseman never seemed hurt by any of them. Instead it just continued to laugh, and there was a loud shing! as blade hit cave wall.

"Bullets aren't working Anna! That doctor knew something, so try something else!" The other shouted.

"Pot kettle Els! At least I'm trying something!" Scorned the first.

"I know your names now!" The horseman cackled once again.

Two human sihouettes blurred into view, slowly backing away from the pursuing horseman.

"Wh-why's that so important?" 'Anna'a voice held a distinct quiver.

The captured girl screamed, "don't let it say your name!"

"You're too late!" The monster rattled. "Because Anna, will be staying for life!"

One of the two silhouettes clutched at her throat, and began floating upwards from the ground.

"Anna! Anna no!" 'Els' shrieked in terror.

"I'd look out for myself if I were you, Els." The horseman's grin could be felt. But as Elsa dodged a swipe of its blade, that smug confidence quickly dissolved away, "huh?!"

"That's not my name, you bastard!" Elsa yelled, and launched a knife into the horseman's side. They yelped in pain, and Anna fell back to the ground, limp as a noodle.

"Anna...!" The blonde rushed to her sister's aid. She was still clutching at her throat, but  breathing.

"Go...!" Anna croaked. "Save her!"

"B-but what if-" Elsa stammered.

"Go! Go now, while you've got a cha-nce!" The younger sister choked.

A grimace marred Elsa. What point was there in saving the girl if they were all going to get killed anyway? They didn't have any means of defeating this thing!

But with a private sigh, she dashed across the cave, avoiding the horseman's swipe and praying she wouldn't trip over a rock or something.

"I'm here... I'm here to help!" The older sister gasped, scrambling over towards the young lass and making a poor attempt to untie her knot. The rope frayed a little, but stayed taught.

"D-don't worry about that," the girl whispered, which confused Elsa even more. "Get the thing in my back pocket. It'll help, I promise!"

"Umm...?" Elsa frowned at the request. This kid wanted her to leave her tied up?

"S-sorry..." she grunted, carefully extracting what looked like a marble from the girl's dress pocket. It did nothing for a moment, but then began to glow a golden colour, illuminating the cave with a strangely soft warmth.

"It will help, trust me." The young girl rasped.

"...okay!" Elsa totally believed this kid. The little marble in her hands was glowing innocently as she stumbled across the cave floor with it. The horseman had recovered, and was once again bearing down on Anna, but the light alone seemed to spark fear in its deadened eyes.

"What?!" It gasped. "N-no...!"

Anna frowned at the little golden ball in her sister's hands. Whatever it was, it seemed as though the horseman was positively terrified of it. But why...?

"G-get away...!" The horseman tried a feeble swipe at the thing, with no avail.

Her mind raced. How could a little ball achieve what a gun couldn't? But then Facilier's smile entered her mind, and the lightbulb clicked on.

"Elsa! It's gold! Gold is the weakness!" The redhead called. "That's what that doctor guy was trying to tell us!"

"Bit late for that Anna! We don't have any other gold things!" The older sister cried back. But then her stomach dropped as she replayed Anna's last sentence.

 "El-saaa...!" The horseman cackled. "So that is your name."

Suddenly breathing was difficult. Elsa clutched at her throat, and the little bauble thing tinkled to the ground as she began floating upwards. An evil laughter escaped the horseman, and Anna joined her levitating efforts. Meanwhile the bauble sat there innocently.

The horseman laughed awkwardly, and edged its way around the bauble on the floor. Elsa's vision began to blur, as her windpipe felt like it was collapsing in on itself. Both sisters were forced to just float there helplessly, meanwhile the young girl's bindings were still holding tight.

"And now it's your turn," the horseman's voice clattered. "Eel...on...wee?"

The blonde gave her binds half a tug. "Nope."

"Ell-an-why?"

Another tug. She could feel the rope loosening. "Guess again."

"I'LL-" the horseman began, and the blonde flinched. "...en-why?!"

One last snag had her hand freed at last. She flexed her wrist, "oh, so close..."

"Argh!!" The horseman roared, only for it to get doused with a torrent of water!

The horseman collapsed to the ground spluttering, and two sisters were quick to do the same, able to breathe again at last!

"She... she can use magic?!" Anna spluttered.

"That's your concern?!" The schoolgirl cried back. 

"A little bit yeah!" Said Anna.

"Well let's worry about that later Anna!" Her older sister was the voice of reason, and grasped at the golden bauble. Instantly repelled, the horseman hissed at it. 

"N-no! You can't...!"

"Oh, I can," the older sister cocked a grin. "It's your turn, Dullahan!"

The horseman froze in its place, emitting only a gurgling noise. "N-no...!"

Bauble in hand, Elsa taunted. "What's my name?"

The little golden marble was pressed against Dullahan's skin, which immediately began sizzling and melting away. The creature hissed in pain, but was powerless against it. Loud, shrieking noises emanated from nowhere, and acrid black smoke flooded the cave. Dullahan burst into flame, before letting out one almighty yelp!

And disappearing into nothingness...

Elsa blew away the smoke. Her heart was going a mile a minute. It had to be dead now, right? It wasn't coming back? The kid was safe?

Anna sniggered, "d-did you have to say that 'what's my name?' crap?!"

Elsa pouted. "Matter of fact yes, Anna. Don't you watch movies? The good guys always have some kinda cheap catchphrase like that..."

But her smile didn't reach her eyes. Not by a long shot.

"...alright yeah, I probably didn't."

"Damn straight." Anna shook her head fondly. "So what how, you gonna put on your shades and ride into the sun...rise? Geeze is it that fuckin' time already?"

"Maybe you should help the poor lass, tied up in the cave?" A voice punctured their celebrations. Two sisters stared at each other.

"...yeah, maybe we should."

"Alright Els, you get the legs and I'll untie the arms, got it?"

"Anna, this doesn't seem like a good idea."

"Got any better ones?"

"Alright fine..."

"Whoa whoa, hold on a moment! Don't let me fa-waaah!"

"Ow...!"

\-----

The roar of Flynn's mustang was brought to but a purr, as an exhausted teenager slept in the back. Eyes lidded yet focused, Anna and her sister exchanged a glance. 

Then a grin.

And a fistbump.

"We did good today Els." Said the redhead. 

Elsa took her eyes off the never-ending stretch of highway for but a second.

"Y-yeah Anna. Yeah we did."

Twitchy fingers resisted turning on the radio as the purple mustang roared down the highway. For two sisters made a difference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! It took a fucking while, but it's up!
> 
> Apologies for any stylistic changes. I'm working on improving myself, and there's a lot of work to be done, let's say. This chapter's a bit of a mess, but I plan to clean it up soonish.
> 
> Either way, some action. Action is good, yes?
> 
> Feel free to drop some feedback. I like feedback. Over and out. :)


	17. Chapter 17

It was a quiet afternoon in Wesseltown. Birds chirped cheerfully to each other as they flitted through the conifer trees, enjoying the blustery mountain winds. Not a soul for miles. Were it not for the bright purple mustang pulled over on the side of the gravel road, anyway.

In the driver’s seat a young woman lay curled up, her face squashed against the window as she attempted to get some much needed sleep. It had been a super long day after all, what with the creepy old guy in the church, and the witch doctor, and the headless horseman, and the saving of that kid with the weird name...

It was only reasonable that one would fall to exhaustion. The young woman would’ve hoped for a bit more dignity than she was left with, but you can’t help where you fall asleep, can you?

The flash of a cellphone illuminated her plight for just a moment, and sneakers crunched across gravel to the other side of the muscle car, carefully edging the door open with said muddy sneaker.

”Mmn...” the blonde woman muttered, reacting to the disturbance.

A hand gently shook her, “Elsa...”

The blonde gurgled, and wrapped herself up tighter in her blanket.

”C’mon Elsa...” The assailant shook again, and Elsa tightened up in her blanket yet again. “Have it your way,” the redhead smirked, and slammed the car door.

“April showers!” Elsa burst awake, vaulting upright and launching her blanket across the dashboard. Wide eyed and staring, she took in a few moments to register her surroundings. “...huh?”

”Afternoon sleepyhead,” her sister Anna grinned. “Sandwiches?”

”Sandwiches?” Elsa echoed, still half asleep.

”Chicken, cheese and cumin!” Anna laughed. And only now did the elder sister spy the half a dozen packets of sandwiches scattered around the front of the car.

”...where’d you get those?” Elsa yawned. “A-a-and since when did you know what cumin was?”

”Hey, I can read a label!” Anna wrestled with the shitty packaging on the sandwiches. “There was this little store a couple miles down that was selling them, and I-“

”You stole them.” Elsa’s sandwich stopped halfway towards her mouth.

”No Elsa, I bartered for them using exotic materials I’d collected from the woods,” Anna’s voice was sharp. “Of course I stole them. D’you think I had any other choice, dear fugitive sister?”

”I guess not...” Elsa let out a low sigh. “S-sorry Anna. I guess I’m still getting used to this.”

”Don’t worry about it,” the younger sister shrugged. “Anyway, think it’s about time we head off?”

“Hunh?” Elsa had only just managed a first bite of her sandwich. The heat from the cumin, tangoing with the succulent chicken and nutty cheddar was undeniably good, but she couldn’t savour the taste. Forcing a swallow, she gasped, “N-now?! We’ve only just started eating!”

”Pff, you can eat and drive,” Anna dismissed her. “But we’ve got cases, remember? And there’s stuff being killed out in Mortimer Valley!”

”...stuff?” Elsa crammed another half-sandwich into her mouth. “You mean it’s not just humans?”

”Ayup,” said Anna. “Whatever it is, it’s mauling everything with a heartbeat, pretty much. So we’re gonna go find out what it is, and put an end to it!”

”And if we get mauled and eaten?” Elsa rationalised.

”Just drive already!” 

“Fine...” Elsa grumbled, and turned the keys. The mustang snorted awake, and kicked up gravel as it sped off down the tracks.

”So, I’m assuming we’re going to Mortimer Valley?” Elsa blinked away her fatigue and indicated for a left turn. “Any clue what we’re looking for exactly?”

”Not a,” Anna was poring over her files, “I did at first think werewolf or something you know? But the attacks are indiscriminate, and so far they’ve been avoiding the full moon if anything. But they’ve all been at night time, best I can figure.”

”Avoiding the full moon? That’s odd. Maybe they don’t wanna start a turf war with the wolves?” Elsa’s hands were at ten and nothing as she stuffed half a sandwich into her mouth.

”Pff, you’re assuming the place is full of werewolves...” Anna let out a snide chuckle.

”You can’t tell me there’s none,” Elsa swallowed. “After the shit we’ve seen recently, c’mon Anna. Werewolves are practically vanilla.”

”Eheh, I guess...” said Anna with a sigh. Conversation dissolved into the contented humming of engine noises, where Elsa was concentrating on the road ahead, and Anna was instantly bored. Her notes had remained untouched in weeks, due to no advances in the case. A few mauled animals and the leg of a hiker wasn’t exactly a lot to go on. But dammit, no one else was going to do anything.

”Let’s see if the radio knows anything,” the redhead finally broke the awkward silence, and began fiddling with little knobs on the dashboard,

”Let it go,-“

”-my wayward so-o-on,-“

”-now I know-oh, how I’ll-“

”-try everything~!”

“We could be imm-“

”Anna!” Elsa snapped the radio off, “not helping!”

”Yes, because ‘awkward silence’ is a much better ambience!” The redhead snapped back.

”If you were listening to ONE radio station I wouldn’t mind!”

”Well I was tryin’ to find the news!”

 “If you don’t know anything, why would they?”

”Because they’re the NEWS?”

”Ugh...” Elsa groaned. “Let’s just... find people and ask questions. You know, the way mom and dad did it.”

”Yeah, and look where it got-“ the words left Anna’s mouth before she could realise. She flailed, a vain attempt to claw them back, but alas they had been said already.

 The mustang let out a pained screech as Elsa somehow managed to parallel swerve it into a parking space on the side of the road.

”Careful Anna,” she held a glint in her eye that Anna hadn’t seen in years. 

“S-sorry...” The redhead spoke to her feet. And then yelped as her sister stepped out of the car. “Elsa?!”

”Ssh...” A finger to the lips, as Elsa slowly crept away from the car.

”B-but Elsa...!” Anna flustered after her sister, “Elsa, I-I-“

”SssSsssh!” Elsa shooshed her again, this time with more force. Anna frowned at her. 

“Well fine then, you be an immature butthead,” the redhead pouted. “Here I am thinking you might actually wanna discuss serious-“

”Sssssshhsshhsshhuh!“ Elsa hissed again, louder and more ridiculously than ever. Anna flared at her big sister, only to realise the blonde’s intentions.

”...oh.”

Both young women were on the same page at last. Anna opened the car door as quietly as she could, and joined up with her sister. 

“Who ya tracking?” She whispered to the blonde. Elsa gave a subtle point to a row of shady looking stores on the other side of the street, where a familiar face was walking past with almost too much strict nonchalance. Try as she might, there was no way she was getting all of that hair into her hood. Rebel curls mutinied from the dark blue hoodie, and Merida herself looked plenty out of place.

”What’s Merida doing all the way out here?!” Anna hissed up at her sister. “She lives what, ten miles away?!”

”I’m sure there’s a reason,” Elsa muttered back. “Wanna find out?”

”Oh you bet. Two step?”

”Two step.”

Merida disappeared down an alleyway between the pawn shop and a liquor store. The roughneck owners of either store raised eyebrows at the delicate lassie as she sauntered past, seemingly unbothered by their presence, almost as if-

“Afternoon, Merida,” Elsa stepped out in front of her from behind the corner. “Out sightseeing, are we?”

”...ye could say that,” Merida held the slightest of scowls. Without a change of expression, she span on the heel of her foot, and began walking the other way.

”Bit out of the way, aren’cha?” Anna appeared on the other side. “Anything ya wanna... talk about?”

“No’ really,” Merida’s scowl deepened. She glanced over her shoulder to Elsa. “Mon then, attendance polis. Out m’road.”

”Hang on Merida, we’ve got a couple of questions you need to answer first.” Anna stalled her. “Because it’s pretty suspicious you’re out here at this time, don’cha think?”

“...at three in the afternoon?” Merida smirked. “Am just gettin’ m’tea, no need tae worry!”

”You’re travelling ten miles for tea?!” Anna balked. She and Elsa exchanged a silent ‘and I thought auntie Gothel was weird.’

”No’ that kinda tea...” Merida couldn’t help but laugh. “Am gettin’ fish supper for masel, wee Chris an’ Ellie. She needs a treat, remember?”

“B-but you live ten miles away!” Anna spluttered. “Isn’t that a bit far for...” She leant over and whispered, “what’s a fish supper? It’s not just fish, right?”

”How should I know?” Elsa shrugged violently back. The two returned their attention to Merida, only to find that the lass had acquired several steaming packets of... takeout?

”This, is a fish supper, hen,” Merida gave a very forced looking smile. “...chip?”

She waded into one of the packets and extracted a handful of glistening, moist, very chunky fries.

”Umm...” Anna couldn’t deny that she was tempted. “N-no thanks. You guys need them more.”

”Suit yersel’,” Merida wasted little time in shoving the handful of ‘chips’ into her mouth. “Now if yer no mindin’...”

There was the toot of a car horn, and all three young women turned to see one of the ladies from Merida’s home, this one garbed in red, in the driver’s seat of what looked like an old mini.

“...that explains a lot,” said Anna. “S-sorry... for suspecting you Merida. It’s just that there’s this mysterious beasty... thing that’s prowling the area, and-“

”Aw, so ye thought I was turning inty a werewolf and shredding weans in the night?” Merida wrinkled her nose playfully. “Wae this hair? I’ll be getting hame wearin’ a whole fucking tree! An’ imagine explainin’ that tae Flora!”

“Well... thanks, for being so understanding,” Anna managed a smile. “You’ll contact us if you see anything suspicious, right? Still got my card?”

”...ah ‘hink so,” Merida didn’t look confident. “In exchange, ye can help carry the rest.”

”The rest?!” Elsa gasped. “How many people are you feeding?!”

”This is just for me,” Merida bounced the four steaming packets in her arms. The two sisters exchanged a wide eyed stare as Merida carried her food over to the mini at the end of the street. Elsa and Anna complied, and helped carry the other four between them.

”Heeeere ya go!” The last of the packets were passed through the passenger door of the mini.

”Why thank you dears,” the lady in red - Flora presumably - beamed at them both. “And you’re the two young ladies from this morning, aren’t you?”

Without warning, Flora burst from the car and wrapped her arms around both sisters. “I never got the chance to thank you both properly. You’re absolute angels for bringing her home...”

”I-it was nothing, really...” Elsa stammered.

”Well all good deeds must be paid forward, dear,” Flora was practically glowing. “If you ever need a hot meal or a rest, don’t hesitate, okay?”

”Th...” Anna’s voice didn’t quite find its way out in time. “Th-thank you so much!”

”No’ this hot meal though,” Merida pokes her tongue out. “‘Mon Flora, let’s get movin’!”

Flora separated herself from the two sisters, “I have to get going. Thank you again, dears!”

The middle aged lady toddled back off into the driver’s seat of her mini. With another bright smile and a wave at the pair of them, she and a stuffed-cheeks Merida pootled off again into the distance.

And two sisters were just left there, as confused and devoid of answers as before.

”...well that was a bust,” Elsa sighed. “Where to next, any clue?”

”I dunno, maybe head to the site and look for some evidence?” Anna shrugged. “I’ll ring some people, see if they know anything.”

”You sure that’s wise?” Elsa frowned as the pair of them returned to the car.

“I’ll be subtle!” Anna flailed. “C’mon, any clue’s better than no clue, right?”

”I suppose...” Elsa had to agree. “Just... don’t give us away, huh?”

”You got it,” Anna winked. The mustang snorted awake again, and took off with a low growl as Elsa kept the revs low. Anna was already having trouble keeping a signal with her old, crappy phone. Launching her arm at the weirdest of angles to try and find some bars, it was nevertheless an athletic effort.

”That should hold it...” she strained, practically reaching over her sister in the driver’s seat to sustain two whole bars of signal. “C’mon now, stay...”

————

Rapunzel’s fake-diamond-and-sticker encrusted phone buzzed about madly as the young woman herself did much the same. Flitting about like a moth in a nightclub, shunting bunches of flowers around like there was no tomorrow, her usual bubbly energy had been replaced with a stressed sort of mania as the girl simply could not keep up.

”H-hello?! She gasped at her phone, noticing it at last. “F-Fleur de Lis, Rapunzel speaking. H-how can I-“

”Busy are we?” Anna smirked on the other side of the connection.

”Anna!” Rapunzel’s exclamation was reduced to a squeak. “Yes, we’re really busy today! Belle had to take the day off, something about her boyfriend being ill, so it’s just me, and - just a sec - hi there, how can I help?”

Anna exchanged a grimace of concern with her sister as Rapunzel’s voice crackled through the static.

”-two dozen yellow roses? Alright, I can get that sorted. Next Tuesday? No problem!”

The blonde scribbled some details down onto a notepad, and waved away her customer with a smile. “...alright, I’m back. Still with me Anna?”

”Still here!” The redhead grinned. “Since when have flowers been in such a high demand?”

”I have no idea, but it is nuts!” Rapunzel had her phone pinned between her neck and shoulder as she dashed about, restocking and shuffling. “Wanna make fifty bucks?”

”Fifty...?!” Anna almost swore. “Do you really need the help that badly?!”

”Just for a couple of hours!” Rapunzel’s weeping was hidden behind a customer friendly smile. “I could really, really use the hand if you’ve got it Anna.”

”Alright, well uhh...” Anna turned to her sister for some affirmation. The blonde shot her a momentary glance, and nodded her approval.

”Alrighty, I can do that Punzy! I’ll seeya in... an hour?” Anna conferred.

Another nod from Elsa.

”Thank you Anna, you’re amazing!” Rapunzel gushed on the other side of the phone. “Quick as you can, alright?”

”You got it. Oh, and the cargo is fine!”

”Love ya both!”

The phone connection beeped out, and Anna wormed her way back into a normal sitting position.

”The cargo?” Elsa raised an eyebrow at her sister.

”Hey, she understood what I meant!” Anna protested. “What, would you rather I said that her fugitive cousin was doing okay?”

”Fine, fine...” Elsa groaned. “...so you’re helping Rapunzel for how long?”

”Just a couple hours, apparently! But fifty bucks!”

”We sure could use the money...” Elsa pondered. “Alright then, looks like I’m going on my own to look for clues. I’ll drop you on the edge of town, alright?”

The mustang veered to a halt at the cross section of O’Malley and Duchess, where Anna stepped out and waved her sister away as the blonde sped off into the distance.

”Right, flower shop’s half a mile or so. You can walk half a mile, right Anna?”

The redhead chuckled humourlessly to herself, and immediately her fragile grin shattered. With a groan, she and her muddy sneakers stomped away.

Meanwhile...

Rapunzel was just finishing off one of the day’s big orders, arranging a selection of tulips and carnations into a bright white-an purple stripe pattern. She was busy admiring her creation when a tall, thin shadow approached her.

”Quite the interesting conversation you were having there, Miss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here’s another update for you all. It comes with the realisation that I probably should’ve tidied up the previous one a little better, but ehh. That’s for later.
> 
> As for this one, it’s... MOSTLY filler, I will admit. But there’s fun references and some transitional stuff going on, plus foreshadowing. So yeah! Not a waste! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading it! :)


	18. Chapter 18

Rapunzel was originally wary, rising up from behind her counter like a slowly inflating bounce house, complete with her phone and an armful of bright orange tulips.

But that wide eyed stare soon dissolved into a restrained grimace, once she caught the gaze of her interrogator. Opposite her stood a tall, skinny, impossibly old woman. Bearing deep, trench-like wrinkles and an obviously forced smile, the old lady looked very pleased with herself, having cornered Rapunzel like this.

It took Punzy a moment to even notice the police uniform, it was that buried under pointless furs and glitzy... crap. A fashion disaster that even Mother wouldn’t have been caught dead in, in the middle of summer, nonetheless. Must’ve been to cover up the rotting flesh or something, she shared a tacit snicker with no one. Flynn would’ve loved that.

Punzy cleared her throat, made sure that chuckle was well and truly erased.

”A-ahem! Can I... help you, officer?”

”Why yes, perhaps you can!” The ancient cryptid beamed her horrifying stare. “I’m Chief Inspector Yzma, and I’ve got a few questions to as-“

”Hey Yzma! Ya seen these magnolias?! They’re beautiful!”

This Yzma’s smile visibly strained, and Punzy could’ve sworn she saw bits crumble from her.

”...and this is my junior, private Kronk.” Yzma’s voice was notably lower. She thrust a bony arm in the direction of of a six foot tall, five foot broad... mammal. 

“Yo!” He spoke, gave the complementary finger gun salute, and resumed admiring the flowers on display.

”As I was saying...” Yzma had regained her composure. “I have a few questions for you, if that’s okay? Are you able to take a break, dearie?”

”Umm, afraid not, actually?” Punzy clicked her tongue. “My partner had to take the day off today, so it’s just me. We can talk while I work if you’d like?”

Yzma’s withered features fell as bunches upon bunches of flowers were pushed into her arms. Her sickened grimace was twisted into a smile every time Rapunzel dates make eye contact.

”R-right, that’ll do it for now,” she nodded at the furore of flowers. There were more flowers than woman now, and Yzma was visibly seething from it all.

”Anyway! You wanted to ask some questions?” Punzy beckoned her over to a nearby wireframe, which was only about a quarter stocked with red and white roses.

”Y...yes, I do...!” Yzma’s teeth were grinding. Roses were gently plucked from her and placed into the heart-shaped contraption, with Rapunzel humming to herself as she did so. “We’re on the trail of a fugitive, and were wondering if you could help us identify her?”

”Her? Fugitive?” Punzy made sure her eyes were on her roses before answering. “Wow, that sounds exciting! You sure they’d be here, of all places? Hold that thought, please; customer.”

Rapunzel whooshed back around her counter, and took a moment to greet her customer. A secret, furtive text under the safety of te counter and she rang up Mr Parr’s order with a toothy smile. Forgotten anniversary, apparently. 

She took a moment to catch her breath again, straightened out her hair, and whipped back around. “S-sorry about that! You were saying?!”

”...yes, as I was saying,” Yzma groaned. “We’re looking into her disappearance, and would be very interested in finding her! Have you perhaps seen, THIS-“

She tucked a hand into her breast pocket, and not only did Rapunzel give out a shriek of horror, but so did Kronk.

”Oh dear god Yzma, no!” He yelped.

”What, what?!” Yzma protested, retrieving a photo from her pocket. Both Kronk and Rapunzel breathed a collective sigh of relief.

”Just a photo...” Punzy chuckled, but nevertheless felt her stomach twist at the all too familiar blonde displayed on it.

”S-so yes,” Yzma winced, with rose stalks poking her everywhere. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen... s-seen that - oh this is stupid!”

The dozens of flowers were thrown to the floor, and Yzma crossed her arms. “Now you are going to tell me where she is and I’ll arrest you for obstruction of justice!”

”...Um,” Kronk raised a finger. “...Yzma. I think you mean or?”

”Fine!” Yzma raged. “You tell me where she is OR I’ll arrest you for obstruction of justice! Happy, Kronk?!”

”Very much so.” Kronk finger-gunned again.

Punzy massaged her forehead. “Look, I don’t have time for an interrogation right now. Wanna pick up those flowers for me? ‘Cause unless you know someone who can arrange them for me, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to-“

Both women were interrupted by some sort of inhuman squeal emanating from Kronk. They exchanged a look, and then back to him again.

”Flower arranging?!” He cried. “I am SUPER good at that! Can I Yzma?! Can I can I?!”

Yzma visibly deflated. “...I suppose.”

”Yay!” Kronk squealed again, and before Rapunzel could so much as register movement, a whirlwind had blown past the both of them and began slotting roses into the wireframe.

”...a-nyway!” Yzma was quick to dismiss it all. “Now that you’ve got some free time...?”

”Um, of course. I’ll take you ‘round the back.” Rapunzel said. She gathered up her hair, just in case, and led Yzma through to a little kitchenette. Much like her home, almost everything was violently purple, from the crockery to the seating.

”Can I get you anything? Coffee, cookies?”

”...oh, no thanks,” Yzma was barely even listening. “I shan’t be here long.”

Rapunzel shared a forlorn look with her reflection in the kettle. It went on with a click, followed by the clinking of china as a rainbow mug, a plate and a packet of cookies were pulled out of the nearest cupboard.

”Well I’m taking a break, so please, help yourself.” Rapunzel’s voice was stiff as the plate of cookies clattered onto the table.

Yzma stole a glance at the plate of cookies. “I’d rather you talked about this dangerous fugitive, Ms...”

”Ryder.” Punzy bit her cheek. He wouldn’t mind. Probably.

”Ms Ryder!” Yzma clawed at a cookie. “For all you know, this woman could be out slaughtering as we speak!”

”Well I cater for funerals, so that’s not an issue!” Rapunzel bit right back, just as the kettle began to whistle. Without breaking her gaze, she lifted it from its thing and filled her rainbow mug with water.

”A rather candid attitude, Ms Ryder.” Yzma scrawled something onto a notepad. “Are you this blunt with all of your guests?”

”Only the rude ones.” Rapunzel heaped a spoonful of sugar into the mug and stirred ferociously. “Now, you were saying?”

 Yzma’s bony fingers interwove as she chose her words carefully. “This woman our prime suspect in the murder of a billionaire heiress, Ms Ryder. It is in our best interests that she is captured quickly, wouldn’t you agree?”

”W-well I guess...” Punzy made friends with that stain on the table that she could never clean. “But how do you know she’s guilty? You’ve got evidence? Motive?”

”It is our belief that the two were...” Yzma leant in close, and Rapunzel was forced to gaze at the rotten, mossy fangs she called teeth.

”...lovers.”

”...so?” Punzy was eager to back away again. “That’s a pretty normal thing nowadays. Can’t convict someone for being a lesbian, I’m pretty sure.”

”W-well no, of course not!” Yzma was clearly thrown a curveball there. “But even the most narrow minded of bigots would agree that it is a motive. Would you not? Murder your lover, and take her billions? It’s the oldest trick in the book!”

Conversation tuned out for a moment, and Kronk was overheard interacting with a customer.

”Aha, yeah, I know how ya feel Mr Robinson. Can be so hard finding the right gift. Have a good one!”

There was the cliched jingle of a cash register closing, and Kronk’s square face appeared around the corner. “So how’s the uhh... interrogation going?” He winked.

”The friendly chat is going just fine, Kronk!” Yzma’s answer was noticeably strained.

”Good to hear it.” Kronk smirked.

”ANYway...!” Yzma massaged her forehead. “Where were we, Ms Ryder?”

”You were discussin’ the chances of a possible black widow motive there, Yzma.” Kronk seemed to be reading something as he spoke. “And blondie here wasn’t buyin’ it.”

”THANK you, Kronk!” Yzma raged.

Kronk gave them both another fingerguns, and winked. ”Anytime.” 

Rapunzel shrugged. “...well, he’s kinda right. I don’t believe it. If you were gonna murder someone for money, wouldn’t you have used some of it by now?”

Yzma crept forwards. “How do you know she hasn’t?”

Rapunzel blinked. “...ATM records. If she’d used her dead girlfriend’s money, you’d know exactly where she was already, and wouldn’t have to be asking complete strangers.”

”Strangers?” Yzma frowned. “You’re telling me the two of you aren’t in any way related? With those same enormous eyes?!”

”...everyone has big eyes around here, officer.” Rapunzel dismissed. “Trust me, that proves nothing.”

”A-and the same blonde hair?!” Yzma flailed.

”You’re honestly telling me that these beautiful golden locks,” Rapunzel flourished a length of her hair for good measure. “Are the same as that bleached mess?”

Elsa was gonna kill her.

Punzy drained her mug, and suppressed the pain of it being too damn hot, because looking badass was more important right now. “Not to assume, but I think you’re reaching, officer. Do you have any actual... evidence? Or did you just interrogate the first person you saw?”

Yzma raised a finger to object, but again, Kronk answered for her;

”She’s onta us, E!”

Yzma’s point was then raked across her face in obvious frustration.

”...fine.” She conceded at last. “I suppose I’m satisfied with your answers for now.”

Even the chair screeched in surprise, she stood up so abruptly. Throwing one of her many scarves around her face, she swept back out of the kitchen and into the main shop, where Kronk was busy on the phone, simultaneously tapping away at the computer.

”Azaleas... yep, we got those. You want ‘em mixed with... crocuses? Man, there’s a clash.”

He hesitated, glanced about his shoulders of all things, before responding, “...alrighty, you’re the boss. I can get that sorted for ya. Have a great day Mr Smith!”

Kronk put the phone back down, and cleared his throat, “ahem! That was a uhh, John Smith. Boring name I know. He wanted a bouquet of azaleas and crocuses of all things. Said it reminded him of the wind, whatever that meant. Can’t say I agree, but heh, customer’s always right, amiright blondie?”

”Oh, you bet!” Rapunzel cried. “Thanks for covering the store for so long. You’re a lifesaver!”

”Not a problem!” Kronk dismissed with a wave. “I tidied her up a bit for ya as well, so you should be able to take it easy for a while!”

”Gosh, you’re amazing...!” Punzy was glowing. “You sure you’re in the right profession? This place is the best it’s looked in weeks!”

”Well I did take a course on floral arrangement in college,” Kronk dusted his knuckles against his uniform. “But if I’m honest, I’m a baker at h-“

”Time to go, Kronk...!” Yzma hissed at him. “Well, that’ll be all for the day, Ms Ryder. You take good care of your flowers now. But just remember!”

She seized one of the white roses from the frame, and Kronk shrieked. 

“If you aren’t careful with flowers,” she crushed the bulb in her hand. “They die! Have a nice day...!”

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow as Yzma again swept past her out of the store, meanwhile Kronk was lost somewhere between disgusted and impressed.

”Y’know, flowers are actually pretty resilient.” He said, stepping to the side so a young man with a bowler hat could pass. “So for you to kill one by just touchin’ it, is pretty-“

”Kronk! Get in the car!” Yzma raged, thrusting a pointy hand at their vehicle.

”...right,” Kronk winked, and gave his cohort one last fingerguns before contorting himself into the confines of the tiny police car. Yzma’s smile grew, watching the young man they’d just passed duck into the shop they’d just left.

”Ya think he’s here to buy some-“ Kronk started, and Yzma shushed him with a hand to the mouth.

”I think he warrants our attention, Kronk.” Yzma grinned, and fired up the engine. Both she and her vehicle purred like a kitten, watching the door to the flower shop close with a tinkle.

Meanwhile...

”...oh! Hello there!” Rapunzel managed her professional smile in record time. “F-fleur de Lis, flower specialists. How can I h-“

”Sshh...” the bowler hat guy pressed a finger to their lips. “Cops are still outside.”

”Cops are...?” Punzy faltered. She stole another glance at the young man, and things clicked into place, “ohhh...!”

The engine outside trundled into life, and Rapunzel peered through the window to see the cop car finally depart from outside her shop. That Yzma lady looked surprisingly happy as she left, Punzy noted.

”...okay, we’re good.” She sighed, melting into a nearby chair. “Glad you got my text, huh Anna?”

”Oh, you bet!” 

The bowler hat was thrown to the ground, and Anna spent time uncoiling her braids, which she’d woven into a bun of sorts atop her head. “How were they here?”

”Turned up the moment I got off the phone with you.” Punzy shrugged. “A-anyway, I’m glad you’re here. Thanks for coming. You both doin’ okay?”

”Uh huh,” Anna nodded. “Elsa’s looking for clues out in a creepy forest right now, so I know who’s got the better job! Now, whaddya need me to do?”

”Well uhh...” Rapunzel looked around. “Just... keep the place looking nice, really? Business should pick up again now the cops have cleared off.”

”People are that serious about flowers?”

”Well who wants the cops poking around while they’re shopping?”

”Hmm, true. Anyway, time to make these flowers look real pretty!”

The doorbell tinkled, and both young women span around to greet their customer,

”Good afternoon!

-.-.-.-.-

Meanwhile, Elsa was shivering in a dark forest. Thick mist penetrated both mind and body, but she persisted through sheer stubbornness if nothing else. Papers in hand, flashlight under one arm, she was attempting to decode the scrawl her sister called handwriting.

 “Okay, big scary tree, check, dis... am bodied? Gods, learn to spell, Anna,” she groaned. “Disembodied leg was about here. Creepy footprints... about here? Makes sense...”

The mist was so thick she could barely see her hands in front of her face. The temperatures didn’t bother her, but like an old horror movie cliche, the light on her flashlight had started to dwindle with every step she took deeper into this forest now.

”Ugh, you’re kidding me.” She sighed, and tapped the thing against a nearby tree to shake it into working again. It continued to flicker, but it seemed as though Elsa was doomed to horror cliches as the thing died entirely.

”...fine, I’ll take the hint,” she deadpanned. It wasn’t like a flashlight was useful here anyway.

But that was until there was the snapping of twigs underfoot. Instinctively, Elsa grasped at the broken flashlight like a club.

Out of the corner of her eye, something moved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there everyone. Dusted off another fic with a long needed update.
> 
> Mostly filler, but it features Kronk and Yzma, so never a bad thing eh?
> 
> Feel free to leave feedback if you’ve got the time. Cheers!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello AO3. This little gem of an idea was inspired by the Disney Kink Meme on livejournal. I read the prompt, ideas happened, and next thing I knew, this did too. 
> 
> I'm hoping you'll enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
> 
> It's only a prologue right now, but she'll grow. Oh, she'll grow. :3


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